Shell E&P Ireland says it could take up to a year to conclude a new route for the Corrib gas onshore pipeline, before a formal application is made to the Minister for Marine.
The company has outlined a seven-stage procedure, which will include preparation of a new environmental impact statement and community consultation.
Once a formal submission for the pipeline route is made within six to 12 months, the Department of Marine and Natural Resources will also hold formal consultations. This could put back final agreement until 2008. However, the company intends to proceed with work at the Bellanaboy terminal, it says in its latest newsletter.
The modified pipeline route was recommended by Government mediator Peter Cassells in a report published in late July, after he said that he could see little prospect of a negotiated solution. Mr Cassells said the route of the pipeline "in the vicinity of Rossport" should be modified "to address community concerns regarding proximity to housing".
Shell accepted Mr Cassells's recommendation, while stressing that the pipeline as planned was safe, and reiterated that it wished to "move forward in partnership with the local community".
In its latest newsletter, the company says that routes outside the Rossport area were not being considered "at the moment", and said that options being looked at included the wider Sruwadaccon Bay and Rossport areas and areas to the north of Rossport.
The company says the terminal had been through a "thorough consents process", has full planning permission and it is "highly unlikely that planning permission would have been granted for a significant industrial development in such a scenic location with an exposed shoreline".
Dr Mark Garavan of the Shell to Sea campaign said the promised consultation on a new route was a "false process" when the company was proceeding with construction work on the terminal in advance of any agreement on the route.
"This represents project splitting at its most extreme, as the company obviously hopes to have much of the work at Bellanaboy well in train before any consent is given for the pipeline."