A Big New Gas Investment?
Or Will It Be Illegal…
During my trip to the rock known as the Isle of Man I had met a person on the island who commented about the significant offshore gas reserves. It was the first I had heard of such a thing, but it was sparked my interest. Since this trip, there was more progress made with respect to the possibility of a serious gas deposit in the Irish sea and Isle of Man has direct ownership of these waters. This man (I assume through a private deal) had invested big into it.
Back in 2002, Isle of Man received connection to the building of a 50 million Euro natural gas pipeline which was the first physical infrastructural connection between Scotland, the Isle of Man and Ireland. However, they do not have their own domestic production.
The Isle of Man, a self-governing British Crown Dependency is located in the Irish Sea between England, Scotland and Ireland. In 1991, the Isle of Man bought the exclusive rights to a 12-mile territorial sea limit from the UK government.
In the Autumn of last year, governmental discussions with a company that hopes to exploit a gasfield off the east coast of the island began began in motion. The licence that the company, Crogga Limited, currently holds requires a 3D seismic survey before exploratory drilling can be contracted. The company is requesting a variation to the licence and had been waiting for a decision to be made by the Department of Infrastructure.
Additionally, Three60 Energy it had won a contract with Crogga Limited to drill an appraisal well in the Crogga gas field offshore the Isle of Man, citing it has the potential to provide energy independence to the Isle of Man by 2026.
We see Crogga becoming one of the largest field developments in the East Irish Sea
Crogga’s requested variation to the licence would enable the company to drill an appraisal well using the results of an older 2D-Seismic Survey undertaken in 1982 and reprocessed in 1996, by British Petroleum (known as BP). BP was interested in these waters 40 years ago, but they had dropped their exploration and since it remained quiet–till now.
Story
The Minister for Environment, Food and Agriculture, Mrs. Clare Barber said that in 1982 when BP held its first licence (on 2d-seismic data) that “the well was found to contain gas, however no gas flow was observed and the well was plugged and abandoned”
Furthermore, she adds, “When BP held their second licence, they proposed a work programme to reprocess seismic data, undertake reservoir deliverability studies, undertake a gas market study, fund a marine environment study, undertake a 3D seismic survey and drill an appraisal well. However in 1997 after completing their technical study, BP decided not to drill an appraisal well and not to collect 3D seismic data.” Hence where we stand today.
“BP decided to relinquish the licence in 2001 based on the discovery and prospects not being economically attractive due to the discovered volume being small, risk on reservoir delivery and the cost of development being too high.”
This has been explored by scientific papers
A paper titled, Unlocking the Palaeozoic Hydrocarbon Potential in the Offshore Isle of Man published by the European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers in EarthDoc. In that they state, “recent studies, built on work done by the 21st Century Exploration Roadmap, have developed two Palaeozoic plays in the Permian Collyhurst Sandstone and in Carboniferous limestones, which could be prospective to the tune of 1–2 tcf of recoverable gas.
Gas reserves off the Island’s coast could be worth anywhere between £10 million and £6 billion. Of course, the huge variety relates to the uncertainty behind the lack of thorough seismic studies completed. It’s important to note that technology has come a long way since 2001 when BP abandoned their license and higher gas prices (or demand for energy security) may make this project economical for Crogga.
The bottom line is that government has to step aside to allow drilling to commence to see what truly lies there
However, Isle of Man have their own climate change Act which if you read with a critical mind you’ll discover it is at best disastrous–for everybody. At the same time, they have been pushing narratives of “clean energy”, tampering with building regulations, pro-cannabis and tech that is so obviously a bubble/fad that it’s hard to ignore and more trendy jargon.
All This is for Not
According to the Climate Change Act of 2021 for the Isle of Man (an absolutely dreadful, murderous and economically imbecilic document to say the least), the following is stated:
Part 6 Fossil Fuels. Under 28.2 A person who installs a fossil fuel heating system on or after 1 January 2025 —
(a) in a new building; or
(b) for use in a new building, commits an offence.
Largest Land Grab, Ever?
“In this Act “Isle of Man removals”, in relation to a greenhouse gas, means
removals of that gas from the atmosphere due to land use, sea-bed use,
land-use change, forestry activities..”. According to their own act, it would seem that disturbing the sea-bed is forbidden.
2023 stoppage
Exploratory works for appraisal drilling for natural gas in Manx waters will not take place for the rest of 2023 year due to “political indecision” causing delays in creating regulations to allow consent.
More Plastic Straw Madness
Refer to the following below:
Ask yourself, if these are the criteria (wildly unknown and variable) and they are currently unknown in their outlook or result, how in the f*ck are they going to hit “targets” by 2050? They have no idea what they are doing or talking about–which is why I deduce anything relating to “climate” from a government sponsored entity or individual is for a sinister purpose.
For a good head shake, here you go: https://legislation.gov.im/cms/images/LEGISLATION/PRINCIPAL/2021/2021-0020/2021-0020_2.pdf I can’t guarantee this won’t change your mind on the place (and every other place with such acts).
*The UK’s Climate Change Act is by far the most destabilizing, dystopian and chaos-inducing of the documents published. If even a fraction is carried forward, it will remove the United Kingdom from global relevance for decades to come, ensure 10s of millions enter poverty and create a whole new slave class of people*
All this aside-- it doesn't even seem some locals like the idea of this gas deposit.
Closing
The fact that this reserve may hold such a significant gas deposit is a blessing for the Manx. They could, with a lot of investment, partnerships and luck become a version of Norway or Qatar who survive off of their gas profits if it was found to be economical. You can envision a situation where they would be a net exporter to the rest of Europe and secure cheap, clean energy themselves for decades to come. The upside of this is literally a gamechanger.
Having said that, political dogma always seem to ruin everything. So far, the emergence of a legal act, social disruptions and pressure against drilling is causing trouble or creating skepticism in its ability to get off the ground (or out of the ground I should say). It remains to be seen–what do you think?
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