Shell to Sea and the Russian attack on Georgia- Evening Herald finds a connection

Wednesday August 20, 2008 15:28

by evil gerald

Columnist Dan White on the hidden meaning of the war in the Caucasus

In today's Evening Herald, columnist Dan White plumbs new depths of idiocy. In a bizarre link, he tries to make out that the conflict in Georgia and South Ossetia should encourage the Irish government to help Shell bring the gas from the Corrib field onshore.

What does he think they have been doing? Does the 11 million euro spent on Garda overtime not indicate (even to the slow witted Dan White) that maybe the government is already on Shell's side?

read the full column here: http://www.herald.ie/opinion/columnists/dan-white/the-r....html

Mr White shows his mastery of the subject when he makes up some figures off the top of his head:
"Just as the Kinsale field was running low we discovered the Corrib natural gas field off Mayo. That field has the potential to supply 80pc of our needs for up to two decades."

Shell makes no such claim. Even if they decided to hand the gas over to Bord Gais (which they won't) there is no way there is that much out there.

Dan White asks: "So why aren't we bringing this gas ashore and reducing the risk of Russian blackmail? Blame the so-called Shell-to-Sea campaign. For several years this noisy group has prevented the gas being piped ashore on spurious "safety" grounds."

Yeah, so spurious that Shell reduced the pressure in the pipeline and changed the route.

But what is even sadder is that the O'Reilly newspapers are still claiming that the Corrib field will make a difference to Irish security of supply. Even the Green Party Ministers are no longer claiming that the gas will belong to anyone other than Shell (and the business partners).

Shell will sell it to the highest bidder, and if resources are scarce, the British energy companies will be setting the price.

The people of Ireland will own zero per cent of the gas. Unlike in Russia where the country's gas resources are owned by a state company.

As far as the conflict in the Caucasus affects natural resources, the people of Ireland would be better off if the Russian army invaded here.

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Comments (4 of 4)

Funnily enough, I found a connection as well.

by Tim Hourigan

Wed Aug 20, 2008 22:42

2 connections in fact !

Thinking of Ireland's energy 'security' I marvelled at reports that the Russian gas company Gazprom is preparing to enter the Irish market, and nothing is made of it in the mainstream media here (outside of business pages).
As things stand, (thanks to Frank Fahey and other FFs) the Corrib gas field is given away to Shell, with no requirement to supply the rightful owners. They can sell it off through interconnectors to other countries.
And instead, we could end up relying on Gazprom, which is a very unreliable source, coming from the other end of the continent, and depending on the goodwill of the Kremlin.

The current President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, ( handpicked for the job by his pre-decessor) used to be chairman of Gazprom. If your recall that in January 2006, Russia shut off the gas supply to the Ukraine (supposedly over an argument over gas prices, but really about other issues) then you understand who we're dealing with. You do something to upset us, we turn off the gas... in mid-Winter.

So, the facts are that it is totally in our interest to renegotiate the Corrib gas deal. Letting Shell do what they want will put us at the mercy of Putin and Medvedev. (of course we also need to develop alternative energy and become less wasteful of fossil fuels)

Now, you might just think that the Evening Herald is being lazy here, in going for sensationalism rather than proper analysis, but remember, that 'newspaper' is controlled by Independent News and Media, and INM is Tony O'Reilly's company, the man who owns 40.08% of Providence Resources, currently exploring the Porcupine Basin off the coast of Co. Clare for gas and oil.
They recently announced a farming out deal, with a firm called Chrysaor, whereby in return for Chrysaor doing the actuall exploratory drilling (expensive and not always successful) they will get a 30% stake in the gas field, rising to as much as 70% if two wells are established.
And how much would the Irish state get? Same as Corrib. S. F. A.
So it's no surprise that they would want Shell to Sea to give up long before their own gas is tapped.

Give away or own gas and buy Russia's?

Thu Aug 21, 2008 01:36

So, with Shell & Co free to export our gas through international pipelines, to the highest bidder, to no benefit to the Irish state, (and Providence free to do the same), we will be taking in up to 15% of our gas from Gazprom, the Russian company, up until recently headed by Dmitry Medvedev, before he took up his job as President of Russia.
2 years ago, in a dispute, with the Ukraine, Russia turned off the taps in the middle of winter.
Is this who you want to depend on for your energy needs?
Contrary to the Rubbish in the Evening Herald, this is just one reason why the Government needs to get a better deal on Irish Oil and Gas fields, to ensure that the State has a stake in it, and that some portion of the gas must be provided to the Irish national grid, rather than exported.

The crazy future of Irish Energy Security

Gombeen Law

by WPF

Thu Aug 21, 2008 10:10

Assuming they are true, and I have no reason to seriously doubt them, how can the "S.F.A" type statements made above fit in with the piece below from Article 10 of Bunreacht na hEireann (Constitution of the Republic of Ireland)?

"All natural resources, including the air and all forms of potential energy, within the jurisdiction of the Parliament and Government established by this Constitution and all royalties and franchises within that jurisdiction belong to the State ..."

From Wikipedia:

"More generally, 'gombeen' is now an adjective referring to all kinds of underhand or corrupt activities and to the mindset possessed by those engaged in such activities. In Irish politics, it is used to condemn an opponent for dishonesty or corruption, although its definition has become less precise with time and usage and it can also imply pettiness and close-mindedness. Alternative modern parlance for a gombeen man is someone 'on the make'." (Excerpt copied from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gombeen_man )

re-negotiate the deal

by layabout youth

Thu Aug 21, 2008 15:12

Don't let anyone tell you that the deal can not be changed. The US govt is changing the rules so that oil companies which are operating under generous deals they were awarded in the 1980's (when oil was cheap) aren't allowed to apply for new licences, unless they are willing to renegotiate the contracts.

It's easy to do. All it takes is political will.

The U.S. Senator who proposed the new law is called Barack Obama, and if he wins the election (he won't if the oil companies can help it) he will no doubt be invited to visit Ireland and have his back slapped by Biffo and the rest, they same gombeens who are giving our resources away under deals that the Americans would be amazed at.

And you won't read any of that in the Evening Herald.

Oil Sense Act: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:s.115

Obama on energy: http://obama.senate.gov/issues/energy/

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Shell to Sea and the Russian attack on Georgia- Evening Herald finds a connection

Comments (4 of 4)