Corrib gas field operator Vermillion said sales from the Co Mayo facility declined by 46 per cent in the second quarter of the year when compared with the same period of 2018.
The Canadian company made the statement in its second quarterly report for 2019 as a combination of lower gas prices and reduced productivity resulted in sales dropping in comparison to last year.
The Vermilion report said that “for the remainder of 2019 we will continue to evaluate further optimisation opportunities as we progress through our first year as operator of the Corrib project”.
The report said that a natural decline in the gas resource at the Corrib field and minor unplanned downtime at the processing facility resulted in production at the field declining by 13 per cent in the period. Gas prices were down 30 per cent year-on-year.
Vermilion said that “since we took over as operator of the Corrib Project late in 2018 operating costs have decreased 14 per cent over the comparative six-month period”.
Vermilion increased its share in the gas field by 1.5 per cent to 20 per cent in December 2018.
The Corrib field comprises six offshore wells as well as a natural gas processing facility on land at Ballaghboy.
Last year the former operator of the field, Shell Ireland, disposed of its shareholding in the project to the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board in a strategic partnership with Vermilion.
The other partner in the project is Statoil, which has a 36.5 per cent stake.
Vermilion said that “given the significant level of investment in Corrib and the resulting tax pools we do not expect to incur any current income taxes in the Irish business unit for the foreseeable future”.
