THE NORWEGIAN oil and gas company StatoilHydro has ruled out seeking an alternative location for the Corrib gas refinery.
However, one of Norway's largest trade union federations, SAFE, says it intends to increase political pressure on Norway's coalition government to take action over StatoilHydro's role in the controversial project.
"StatoilHydro is breaching their own ethical guidelines in north Mayo," Terje Nustad, head of the SAFE union federation, representing 8,700 oil and gas industry workers, told The Irish Timesyesterday.
Mr Nustad was commenting on the outcome of talks in the Norwegian capital Oslo late last week between a north Mayo community delegation, politicians and senior StatoilHydro executives on the Corrib gas issue. StatoilHydro is a partner with Shell E&P Ireland and Marathon in the Corrib gas project.
The 12-strong delegation led by Willie Corduff and Vincent McGrath of the Rossport five was accompanied by Labour Party president Michael D Higgins, Green Party councillor Niall Ó Brolcháin (Galway) and Sinn Féin councillor Noel Campbell (Mayo).
Mr Higgins told The Irish Timesthat StatoilHydro had initially refused to meet the group. When the talks did take place, they had a "different atmosphere" to discussions he had held with the company before. The Oslo headquarters had not been fully informed on certain aspects of the controversy, Mr Higgins said. The delegation also met Norwegian politicians from the Centre and Socialist parties, which form the coalition government with Labour, and with nongovernmental organisations during the three-day visit. The Centre party,which holds the oil and energy portfolio in government, is sending a delegation to Ireland later this week.
Speaking to The Irish Times, Helge Hatlestad, StatoilHydro's vice-president, exploration and production, for western Europe, said that the likelihood now of changing the location of the Corrib gas refinery was "close to zero".
However, in an implicit criticism of both the Government here and the former Corrib gas field owner, Enterprise Energy Ireland, Mr Hatlestad said he believed it was "very unfortunate" that the concerns of the north Mayo community had not been listened to during the planning stages of the project in 2000/2001.
"We've learned in Norway that there is a need for these sort of discussions, for consultation and communication, before a project is sanctioned," Mr Hatlestad said.
"It becomes commercially unviable to do something different once a project has started."
It was also "very unfortunate" that the Government had opted to deploy gardaí in north Mayo, Mr Hatlestad said. "Nobody feels happy with the involvement of or necessity of using police, but it is up to the relevant authorities to make this decision," he said.
The Corrib gas project had come to a complete halt for an 18-month period after the jailing of the Rossport five in 2005, he said. A proposed modified route for the onshore pipeline was close to identification, he said.
Mr Hatlestad said he understood a majority of people in Ireland accepted the project and welcomed it, while a "not insignificant minority" opposed it. A proposal by three priests from the Erris Kilcommon parish to an alternative location for the refinery at Glinsk was not viable, he said.
There were no immediate plans to expand or extend the refinery at Bellanaboy, Mr Hatlestad said. No additional finds had been made off the west coast, but StatoilHydro intended to drill shortly on the Cashel field, which is 70km north of Corrib.
