Irish Minister Expresses Caution on Fracking

The Irish government needs to take advantage of domestic oil and natural gas reserves but fracking campaigns need further study, the energy minister has said.

Irish Energy Minister Pat Rabbitte has said that European and Irish laws forbid hydraulic fracturing unless it can be found that such campaigns won't have an "unacceptable" effect on society or the environment.

Rabbite was speaking at an information session on fracking at the prestigious Royal Irish Academy in Dublin. He said that mining of shale gas by fracking has redefined the US energy sector, and it was time for EU members to consider their own potential.

He noted, with surprise, that a meeting of all EU energy ministers to discuss shale gas, scheduled for next week, was the first time the bloc had devoted a specific session to the potential of this unconventional source.

In Ireland, he said, the government sought to "maximise benefits to Ireland from our indigenous oil and gas resources".

 "But we need to ensure that both exploration and production - conventional or unconventional, on land or at sea - are conducted safely and on an environmentally sound basis," Rabbitte said, acknowledging that in Dublin there were "gaps in our knowledge" about shale extraction.

He anticipated that studies on shale mining should be completed by the end of 2014. "Any possible oportunity  must be rationally evaluated, as to the benefits and potential impacts," he said.

The Irish government awarded two onshore exploration licences in 2011,  but has not sanctioned fracking.

 Ireland imports all of its oil and relies on imports for 90% of its natural gas needs. 

See also: Ireland Orders Investigation Into Shale Gas Fracking