Offshore staff
LONDON — Ireland could depend on Britain to supply 90% of its gas by 2030, according to Offshore Energies UK (OEUK).
The country has more than double imports of gas from the UK since 2017, and these currently account for 75% of Irish demand. All the gas is exported from Scotland via three pipelines under the Irish Sea.
OEUK’s Business Outlook Report 2023, due to be published on March 28, will warn that Ireland’s growing reliance on imports could be ‘irreversible’ due to the Irish government decision to stop issuing new exploration licenses for oil and gas.
Much of the country’s indigenous production comes from the depleting Corrib Field off northwest Ireland.
Environmental groups in the UK are calling for similar bans on North Sea oil and gas exploration. That would leave the UK in the same situation as Ireland, increasingly dependent on other countries and exposed to global shortages, OEUK warned.
One of the three pipelines from Scotland takes gas to Northern Ireland while the others connect to the Irish Republic.
Natural gas is said to account for more than 30% of Ireland’s energy needs, generating over 50% of its electricity. Demand for gas and electricity is increasing due in part to the country’s rising number of data centers, which are predicted to consume 23% of all Ireland’s electricity by 2030.
Now the government is considering how to ensure energy security, including the development of LNG imports.
However, Ross Dornan, OEUK’s markets intelligence manager, who authored the forthcoming report, warned, “Gas imported from abroad usually generates more emissions because of the energy used to liquefy it, transport it and then turn it back into a gas."
03.13.2023
