DUBLIN, Ireland, March 6 (UPI) -- The Irish government hired energy consultant Wood Mackenzie to advise on how best to exploit frontier resources, Energy Minister Pat Rabbitte said.
"Wood Mackenzie will bring its highly respected fiscal consulting experience to bear on this issue," he said in a statement Wednesday. "They have been asked to focus their advice on what level of fiscal gain is achievable for the state and its citizens and the best way to achieve such gain."
Rabbitte said Irish waters hold "great promise" though it's considered frontier territory. In 2012, he said, offshore reserves produced 14 billion cubic feet of natural gas and no oil. Norway, by comparison, produced 4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 694 million barrels of oil the same year, he said.
Ireland imports all of its oil and relies in foreign sources for 90 percent of its natural gas needs.
Rabbitte said an auction for oil and gas exploration licenses is scheduled for June. The last commercial discovery from Irish waters was from its Corrib Field nearly 20 years ago.
There was no statement from Wood Mackenzie on the Irish contract.
