With your class, find out the cost of oil today. Check the price every few days and see if the price is increasing or decreasing. Suggest reasons for your findings.
ACT VITY
Study the picture on the left. What impact has oil had on the economy in Dubai? Discuss in pairs.
( Figure 5.8 The oil-rich city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates
Oil in Ireland
In Ireland, 48 per cent of our energy comes from oil. Ireland has not yet exploited its oil reserves for a number of reasons. Two of the main reasons are:
1. The location of Irish oil reserves makes it very difficult to drill for oil. Improvements in technology may make these oil reserves easier to drill in the future.
2. The oil may not be of a high quality. Therefore, we are completely dependent on oil imports in Ireland at the moment.
However, there is a lot of exploration work occurring around our coastline. Currently under investigation is the Barryroe oil field off the coast of west Cork (see Figure 5.9). After initial research it is thought to contain over 1.6 billion barrels of oil.
ACT VITY
Imagine oil was discovered off the coast of Dingle, Co. Kerry. Suggest what the possible social, environmental and economic advantages and disadvantages might be.
Gas
In Ireland, 27 per cent of our energy comes from gas. Our use of natural gas has increased by 8 per cent over the past decade.
Ireland’s natural gas comes from both Ireland and abroad. There are a number of gas fields off the coast of Ireland. Kinsale Head, Ballycotton and the Seven Heads gas fields are located off the coast of Co. Cork. We started using the Corrib gas field in late 2015. This will reduce our dependency on importing gas from abroad.
74 Ireland Kinsale Head Cork
Barryroe : Figure 5.9 Barryroe oil field and Kinsale Head gas field
