1. OIL AND NATURAL GASES
Harriet O’Leary 3B
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2. What is a
resource?
A resource is something that
is of use to us.
There can be renewable and
non-renewable resources.
Renewable resources can be
used again and again for
example, water,
Where as non-renewable
resources will eventually run
out, for example, oil.
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3. How has the
discovery of oil
changed life for
people living in
Saudi Arabia?
• Saudi Arabia is the world’s
leading oil-exporting country. It
contains one-quarter of the
world’s crude oil.
• Saudi Arabia was a poor country
but oil wealth has now made
Saudi Arabia one of the world’s
richest countries.
• People who live there have access
to a high-standard of living,
plenty of employment, hospitals,
schools and other services.
• But oil, being a non-renewable
resource, will eventually be used
up, so Saudi Arabia must use its
current wealth to develop other
parts of its country.
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5. What are
MNC’s?
• Oil and gas exploration can
provide huge profits for a
country but it is at the same
time a very expensive business.
• This is why oil and gas
exploration is carried out by
large and wealthy American or
European companies called
MNC’s, or multinational
companies. they are called this
because they operate in many
nations at the same time.
• An example of an MNC is the
Marathon Corporation, which
takes gas from the Kinsale Field
of the coast of Ireland.
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6. How do they
search for oil
and gas
(hydrocarbons) ?
• Sea areas are divided into blocks.
The companies rent some of these
blocks from the government of
that country.
• Rock studies are carried to see if
hydrocarbons exist underneath
their rented blocks
• If the rock studies show that
there are hydrocarbons
underneath, test holes may be
drilled to see him much oil or gas
exists.
• If there is a lot of oil or gas, rigs
are set up. Oil and gas is then
drilled and brought ashore
through a pipeline under the sea. 6

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8. Where is oil and
gas found
around Ireland?
• Large deposits of oil and gas
exist user the seabed off the
Irish coast. The largest
deposits have been found in
Kinsale Head Gas Fields
beneath the Celtic Sea off
the southern coast of
Ireland.
• Gas deposits have also been
found beneath the Atlantic in
the Corrib Gas Field off the
coast of County Mayo, but so
far, only the Kinsale Head
Gas Field has been used. 8

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10. What are the
benefits?
• The benefits of Kinsale
Gas:
- Its used to generate
electricity at Aghada,
near where the pipelines
reach the coast.
- Its piped to supply many
towns throughout the
country.
- It has provided almost
20% of Ireland’s energy
needs for 25 years. 10

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12. Some problems
with oil and gas:
• When burned, they produce
carbon dioxide, which
contributes to global warming
• Spillages can pollute beaches
and harm animals
• They are finite resources, they
will eventually run out.
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13. Why might conflict exist over
the exploitation of oil & gas?
Shell and other MNS’s want to develop the Corrib gas
field. But many people think that this plan is dangerous,
and there have been groups set up to oppose it. On the
other hand, people seem to think it is a good idea:
‣ Reasons to be against..
- The pipeline will lie on top of a seabed. The local
fishermen could get caught on it
- The pipeline will also run through boglands, which could
move and ause the pipe to burst.
- The gas travelling in the pipeline will be untreated,
which contains particles of sand minerals and gases that
could erode th pipeline from the inside, which will
increase the danger of explosion. 13

14. Why might conflict exist over the
exploitation of oil & gas?
‣ Reasons to support it…
- This gas would be able to provide energy to our homes,
schools and businesses.
- The terminal will provide fifty permanent jobs, and
hundreds of people will get jobs for laying the pipeline
and building the terminal.
- An Bórd Pleanála and the Enviormental Protection Agency
have both accepted the scheme, so it must be safe for it
to go ahead.
- Supplies from Kinsale are running out, so Corrib gas could
provide 60% of Ireland’s gas for up to twenty years.
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