When will gas from Irish sources run out?
Until 1994 all our gas requirements were met from the Kinsale gas fields. After a period of growing dependence on imported gas we can once again meet 58% to 60% of our gas requirements from the two sources of natural gas in Ireland; Kinsale (2-4%) and Corrib (56%). Without further discoveries we will be importing up to 90% of our gas needs by 2025.
In 2015 up to December, 96% of our natural gas was imported from Britain. The Kinsale Gas Fields, once depleted, were partially redeveloped as a gas production reservoir. One field, the Southwest gasfield, was adapted for gas storage after indigenous production went into decline ,.
The Corrib gas field started pumping gas ashore in December 2015 and will meet about 56% of annual Gas Networks Ireland (GNI) system demands (77% of RoI demand and 38% of Ireland’s max daily demand at the peak of its production) ,.
However, the supply from this undersea gas resource will decline to a point where in just over 10 years, in the absence of the discovery and development of new fields, we will again be about 90% dependent on imported gas from the UK and abroad (Figure 7). This decline could occur in as soon as five years ,.