Efforts to find alternative energy supplies for the Irish Republic reached fever pitch in the late 1990s, and with the Corrib discovery progressing toward development in 2003, other steps are being taken to find new energy for the republic.

Enterprise Oil's Corrib field is poised to become the country's biggest domestic gas supply once the producing Kinsale Head field operated by Marathon is exhausted.
But Ramco Energy has stepped into the Irish sector too with a drilling campaign designed to find more gas - and possibly oil - on the Seven Heads prospect in the Celtic Sea off Ireland's southern coast.
Part of the incentive for the new exploration effort are the booming gas prices being achieved in continental Europe, making gas as attractive as oil.
A second Irish Interconnector, linking the republic with continental Europe via the United Kingdom, will allow any new Irish gas to be easily exported. Allseas is scheduled to carry out installation of this 120-mile (194-km), 30-in. pipeline.
Furthermore, the Irish government is liberalizing the power generation market, so favorable conditions for the commercial development of Seven Heads exist even without the cost benefits of nearby infrastructure at Kinsale Head, Ramco believes.
Drilling recently commenced on a Seven Heads exploration well, and a second may be drilled on the prospect, which is estimated to contain about 600 Bcf of gas - about two-thirds the size of Corrib. About 350 million bbl of oil also is thought to reside in two substrata at 5,000 ft and 7,500 ft (1,525 m and 2,288 m) subsea. Esso discovered Seven Heads in 1973, but it relinquished the license the following year.
Ramco is using Pride-Foramer's Pride North Sea semisubmersible for the drilling program. It is operating in 335-ft (102-m) waters on the 48/24-5 well and targets a 4,000-ft (1,220-m) TD.
Formerly operating as the Sedco Explorer, the Pride North Sea underwent a US $16 million refit by MacGregor Energy Services at the former Barmac yard at Nigg on the Cromarty Firth before starting its Ramco contract.
Ramco has committed to one firm well and a contingent well on Seven Heads, which spans four Irish blocks: 48/23 south, 48/24 south, 48/28 north and 48/29 north. The company intends to build its Irish portfolio to finance higher-risk exploration elsewhere.
"This is an area we see as a prime market," Ramco spokeswoman Lisa Newman said. "We see it as a longer-term source of production that will allow us to go off and drill new exploration wells in Romania and Georgia - to support our exploration activities."
An investment of up to $150 million (£100 million) is anticipated by Ramco if the Irish prospects prove up, and a connection to the nearby Kinsale Head field is one option, the other being a stand-alone facility.
The company also has the nearby Galley Head prospect to consider as well as territory in the Donegal Basin off Ireland's northwest coastline north of Corrib.
At Corrib, Enterprise Energy Ireland has chosen subsea development for the field with up to six wells and a pipeline tieback to an onshore gas terminal.
Corrib, in blocks 18/20 and 18/25, was discovered in 1996, 43 miles (70 km) off the west coast of county Mayo in a water depth of 1,100 ft (350 m), and it has been extensively appraised since. ABB Offshore Systems is supplying six subsea trees for the development, which involves a subsea pipeline to a new $160 million (£100 million) gas terminal at Bellanboy being built by Amec in a joint venture with Ireland's SIAC Construction and Irish Industrial Fabricators.
Allseas Marine has been contracted to lay the offshore pipeline. Stolt Offshore is the main subcontractor for offshore construction of the seabed facilities, including design, supply, installation and tie-in of infield flow lines, subsea control manifold and protection structure. Work will begin next year and complete in 2003.
Drilling disappointment for some
While Seven Heads holds promise, two previous exploration wells offshore Ireland ended in disappointment earlier this year.
Enterprise's Errigal exploration well was dry, and Statoil drilled a dry hole on the Sarsfield prospect.
Sarsfield was plugged and abandoned by Transocean's Sovereign Explorer semisubmersible after being completed in the Porcupine Basin June 29 on Block 8/95. The well was spudded May 12 in 1,968-ft (660-m) waters. It was thought to contain between 300 million and 400 million bbl of oil.
Egil Endresen of Statoil Exploration Ireland said: "We were always cautious with our outlook. We have obtained valuable drilling data, which we will study in the coming months to ascertain if further exploratory drilling in the area is an option at some future date."
Statoil drilled the well with Chevron, Conoco and Enterprise Energy Ireland, but this was a second failure for the company offshore Ireland.
Errigal was another failure, for Enterprise, on Block 5/22a off Ireland's west coast with the West Navion drillship operating in 5,540-ft (1,690-m) waters earlier this year.
Providence Resources was another company keen to exploit Irish offshore resources but abandoned plans for the Helvick oil prospect in the Celtic Sea off the south coast. Two appraisal wells, 49/9-6 and 6z, drilled in the third quarter of 2000 indicated Helvick had a reservoir that was "highly compartmentalized and would require further appraisal." Drilled with the Ocean Nomad semisubmersible in 2000, Helvick had tested at 5,200 b/d on the 49/9-6 well. The field was discovered in 1983 and estimated to contain about 30 million bbl of oil.
Although Helvick was seen as a commercial prospect in a cluster, it could not justify stand-alone development, Providence concluded.

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