Irish announce new gas and oil legislation

Revamped plans for safety management oil and gas can be safely extracted have been presented to Ireland's national parliament the Oireachtas.


Irish natural resources minister Eamon Ryan hopes the Petroleum (Exploration and Extraction) Safety Bill 2010 will improve safety across the industry.

According to Mr Ryan the bill sets the framework for a ‘risk-based safety assessment for upstream petroleum activities and associated infrastructure.’

The minister hopes that by transferring all the safety operations for the industry from his department to regulators the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER).

The legislation creates a ‘safety framework’ which will cover the construction, operation, maintenance, modification and decommissioning of all oil and gas infrastructure.

Mr Ryan said he was ‘pleased’ to bring legislation on this important issue before the Oireachtas.

“First and foremost,” the minister said: “We have to deliver these projects safely.

“The Government’s primary responsibility is to the safety of our citizens, this bill confers the responsibility for safety onto the right body and tasks it with setting up the right regulatory framework in law.”

The Bill is available online here.

Luke Walsh

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