DUBLIN | Fri Mar 25, 2011 10:34am EDT
(Reuters) – Ireland on Friday granted oil major Royal Dutch Shell a license to complete a controversial pipeline to an offshore field it says can provide up to 60 percent of Irish gas needs.
The pipeline will link the north-west coast of Ireland to the Corrib gas field, which is estimated to contain 1 trillion cubic feet of gas.
The environment ministry said in a statement that it had granted a pipeline foreshore license, the last government permission needed for work to begin on the project, which has been beset by protests and delays since its discovery in 1996.