Corrib pipeline 'to be ready by 2014'

Shell and its partners in the Corrib natural gas field plan to spend €800 million completing the project between now and 2014.

The final phase of the development will be a 5km tunnel that will link the pipes from the offshore field to the gas terminal at Bellanaboy, where it will be tied in to the national gas network.

Next year, the umbilical connections, linking the terminal control room with the well heads 83km out in the Atlantic, will be fitted alongside the pipes from the wells themselves.

Shell E&P Ireland’s managing director, Michael Crothers, predicted today that gas will begin flowing from the reservoir in late 2014 or early 2015.

The current phase of the development will sustain 700 direct jobs and a further 750 indirectly, according to an economic study commissioned by Shell and carried out by Goodbody Stockbrokers.

When gas is flowing, the report estimates that the Corrib field will contribute €4.4 billion to the Republic’s economy and supply 60 per cent of Irish natural gas needs.

Shell has 45 per cent of the Corrib field and is also the operator. Norwegian giant, Statoil and Canadian group, Vermillion, are the other partners.