Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources Mr Frank Fahey has issued a "milestone" petroleum lease for the Corrib gas field.
The licence was granted to the Enterprise Energy Ireland Limited and its partners - Statoil Exploration (Ireland) and Marathon International Petroleum (Hibernia).
Announcing the issue of the lease, the Minister said that "this is the only lease to be issued under either the Department’s 1975 or 1992 Licensing Terms and is effectively the first new production lease issued in the last 30 years. As such, this represents a milestone in Irish offshore exploration and production".
Mr Fahey said he "expects to receive a detailed plan of development for the Corrib field from the lessees shortly".
The Minister said starting production at the Corrib gas field will bring "significant commercial and strategic benefits to the Irish economy as a whole".
He also said it would act as part of the economic development of the West of Ireland, "facilitating the supply of natural gas for the first time to domestic, commercial and industrial users in that region including making gas available for power generation".
