Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Pat Rabbitte TD, has announced that his Department has, following a public procurement process, selected international oil and gas experts Wood Mackenzie to advise on the "fitness-for-purpose" of Ireland's current oil and gas fiscal terms.

Minister Rabbitte stated: "Ireland's offshore whilst holding great promise is relatively underexplored with only four commercial gas finds and no commercial oil finds to date. The last commercial discovery was almost two decades ago with the discovery of the Corrib Field.

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"2012 saw one well drilled and three fields producing 0.4 billion cubic metres of gas and no oil in the Irish Offshore. By comparison in the Norwegian Offshore 172 wells were drilled, and seventy seven fields produced 114.8 billion cubic metres of gas and 694 million barrels of oil.

"In setting our fiscal terms we need to strike the necessary balance between attracting the high-risk exploration investment needed to prove that promise whilst maximising the return to the State and its citizens from our natural resources.

"Wood Mackenzie will bring its highly respected fiscal consulting experience to bear on this issue. They have been asked to focus their advice on what level of fiscal gain is achievable for the State and its citizens and the best way to achieve such gain."

(CD/JP)