Shell has been meeting local people in Co Mayo who have concerns over the development of the Corrib Gas project.
Earlier this week, company representatives met members of the Belmullet Sea Angling Club and the Erris Inshore Fishermen's Association.
Locals were told that the company is still examining all options regarding suitable locations for a terminal building. While further investigations are being carried out on the company's preferred site in Bellanaboy, the former Asahi site in Killala has still not been ruled out.
Other sites and pipeline routes from the gas field are also being examined.
Last April, An Bord Pleanála refused planning permission for a gas terminal at Bellanaboy to clean gas from the Corrib field, 70 kilometres off the Mayo coast, citing concern over the removal and storage of 600,000 cubic metres of peat.
Shell, along with partners Statoil and Marathon, has not yet decided whether to proceed with a new planning application for the site.
A company spokesman said: "The final assessment of the project has not yet been made."
A letter on the planning file in Mayo County Council states that the investigation works being carried out in Ballinaboy at present constitute "exempted development", which does not require planning permission.
A council spokesman said it was monitoring the scale and intensity of the work being carried out.