Ireland may become the location for a US/Japanese/EU mineral exploration drilling programme as a result of the latest data from the €27 million national seabed survey.
The data is to be used by the Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI) to make a case for participation in the international drilling programme.
The EU is about to become third partner with the US and Japan in the research, which has a budget of up to $60 million.
The deep-water section of the State's seabed survey - the largest ever undertaken anywhere in the world - has just been completed, marking the halfway stage for the seven-year mapping project.
The GSI is funding a three-month research programme to examine the material, with a view to making the submission to the international drilling programme.
"We believe that at least two holes should be drilled in Irish waters, as a result of the information we have on gas hydrates," Mr Michael Geoghegan of the GSI, project manager for the survey, told The Irish Times.
So far 450,000 sq km of the seabed off our coast has been surveyed, providing data of crucial interest to fishermen, exploration companies and marine scientists, among others. Already there have been indications of the presence of hydrocarbons, in the form of gas escape features and mounds.
Substantial numbers of carbonate mounds and bioherms (reefs) of the deep-sea cold water coral, Lophelia pertusa, also have been observed.
The survey work has been carried out by GoTech, and this week a report covering more than five times the land area of Ireland was presented to the GSI. The entire seabed area is 10 times that of the land area.
The Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Mr John Browne, said that the vital information could be of major benefit to Ireland, both from a commercial point of view and also scientifically.
"Most of Ireland's seabed is unmapped and consequently represents a large untapped resource of potential benefit to many different sectors. In authorising this survey, the Government recognised that Ireland must maximise the commercial opportunities presented by its marine resources and plan measures to protect the marine environment in the most effective manner possible," Mr Browne said.
The latest information is currently available on a dedicated website, http://www.gsiseabed.ie
