April 9, 2015
An oilfield near Gatwick airport could hold up to 100bn barrels of oil, according to a British exploration firm, in possibly the biggest onshore oil discovery in England since the 1980s. UK Oil and Gas Investments revealed it had found a “world-class potential resource” after drilling 3,000ft below ground in West Sussex. However, UKOG said only 3-15% of the total would be recovered, based on similar finds in the US.
“We think we’ve found a very significant discovery here, probably the largest [onshore in the UK] in the last 30 years, and we think it has national significance,” Stephen Sanderson, UKOG’s chief executive, told the BBC. Shares in the company more than tripled in value in frantic trading, jumping 203% to 3.3p by mid-morning. Analysts suggest the Horse Hill oilfield – dubbed Britain’s Dallas – could hold 158m barrels of oil per square mile, a significant increase on reports last year that it could hold 20m barrels. The majority of the oil was discovered when UKOG workers drilled the deepest well in the region in the past 30 years. Sanderson said the find would “comprehensively change the understanding of the area’s potential oil resources”. He added: “Based on what we’ve found here, we’re looking at between 50 and 100bn barrels of oil in place in the ground. We believe we can recover between 5% and 15% of the oil in the ground, which by 2030 could mean that we produce 10%-to-30% of the UK’s oil demand from within the Weald area.” The firm told investors more drilling and testing would be required to prove its commercial value – but that the well had “the potential for significant daily oil production”.
Most experts believe fracking would be needed to extract commercial quantities of oil from the region. However, UKOG has said it does not intend to use the controversial method – which involves pumping water, sand and chemicals into rocks at high pressure. It said the oil at Horse Hill is held in rocks that are naturally fractured, which “gives strong encouragement that these reservoirs can be successfully produced using conventional horizontal drilling and completion techniques”. However, the discovery drew warnings from the Green party and Greenpeace. Keith Taylor, the Greens’ MEP for south-east England, called for “proper and rigorous assurances” from UKOG that fracking would not take place.
“This huge oil find is the perfect opportunity for us to have an important national debate about keeping fossil fuels in the ground,” he said. “The scientific consensus on climate change has never been greater and we have been told that the only way we have a chance of averting catastrophe is by leaving large reserves of oil in the ground.” Dr Doug Parr, Greenpeace UK’s chief scientist, said: “Dotting the English countryside with drilling rigs and pipelines to squeeze the last drop of oil out of Britain doesn’t make any sense. “To gleefully rub your hands at a new fossil fuel discovery you need to turn the clock back to the 19th century and ignore everything we have learned about climate change since. We already have more than enough coal, oil, and gas reserves to fry the planet. “It’s time we uncoupled our economy from the dangerous roller-coaster of fossil fuels and invested in the clean technologies that can provide safe and cheap energy for decades to come.”