UK Oil & Gas plc said it would likely appeal against Surrey County Council’s refusal to grant permission for gas appraisal at its PEDL234 licence in Loxley.
ISSUES
The council’s planning committee ruled against officers’ recommendations to approve the company’s 100% owned Portland gas appraisal project.
UKOG said that all issues concerning planning, environmental and highways had been resolved to council officers’ professional satisfaction.
The company has previously stated that PEDL234 contains a “significant calculated mean and high case recoverable gas volumes of 34 billion cubic feet (bcf) and 54 bcf respectively.”
Following today’s council meeting, UKOG said in a statement: “Crucially, the decision also ignores the key role domestic natural gas plays in the Government’s stated low-carbon hydrogen policy in which natural gas is reformed into clean burning hydrogen.
“Low carbon hydrogen is a key element of government infrastructure strategy and is vital to help achieve net zero and underpin the UK’s recovery from record Covid-19 induced debt levels.
“The company is carefully considering its position but is likely to lodge an appeal on the grounds that the decision is unreasonable given the evidence presented and the council officers’ positive recommendation.”
Today’s council meeting was a rerun of one earlier in the year, which was declared invalid due to technical issues.