Irish Offshore Corrib Gas to Cost €2.8 billion

The cost of the offshore Corrib gas field could reach up to €3 billion, company documents have shown.

The field, which is in development under the charge Irish subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, Shell E&P Ireland Ltd (SEPIL), has already reached a cost of €2.16 billion, the documents show. The documents were filed with the Irish Companies Office on Friday.

The company, along with its partners in the project Statoil and Vermilion Energy Inc, is set to spend an extra €250 million on the project by the end of this year, bringing the total spend to approximately €2.4 billion. 

Additional construction work on a high-pressure gas tunnel, which has yet to begin, will cost an extra €400 million, Irish Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Pat Rabbitte has said. Shell have not confirmed this figure, but have said that the cost will be "several hundred million".

Initial cost estimates for the project were set at €800 million.

The Corrib gas project could produce an estimated 300 million cubic feet of gas, Vermilion have stated, with first gas expected by the end of 2012.

Shell E&P hold a 45 percent stake in the Corrib gas field as operator, with Statoil holding a 36.5 percent interest, with Vermilion holding the remaining 18.5 percent stake.