Shell, the operator of the controversial Corrib gas project in Co Mayo, plans to drill two more exploration wells in Ireland next year despite the significant delays and problems encountered during the development of Corrib.
Andy Pyle, managing director of Shell E&P Ireland, said yesterday that the company had not been discouraged by its Corrib experience.
He was speaking as a report commissioned by Shell predicted that the Corrib project would contribute €3 billion to GDP over its 20-year lifetime.
One of the new wells the company is planning will be at Dooish in the Rockall Basin off Co Donegal, and the other close to Corrib.
Mr Pyle denied the Corrib project had been more trouble than it was worth, and said it is important for both Shell and Ireland that it was completed as planned. Construction work should be finished in two years.
Goodbody Economic Consultants, who drew up the report, yesterday admitted that a "substantial" amount of the €3 billion would go to Shell (about half after construction costs).
The report supported figures predicting that Corrib will provide about 60 per cent of Ireland's natural gas needs at peak production, or equal to 17 per cent of the State's total energy needs.
