UK Oil & Gas plc (UKOG) expects the final decision in June on its plans for gas appraisal drilling at Loxley, Surrey.
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The company had appealed against the county council’s refusal to grant permission for exploration wells, and a public inquiry followed during Summer 2021.
Earlier in 2022, the secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities Michael Gove recovered the appeal from the Planning Inspectorate.
UKOG today reported that the planning inspector had now submitted his recommendation to Mr Gove.
The company said that the Planning Inspectorate expects Mr Gove to issue his decision on or before 7 June 2022.
UKOG aims to begin a conventional gas and hydrogen feedstock project at the site.
UK GAS PRODUCTION
Chief executive Stephen Sanderson added that events in Ukraine had focused attention on the security of UK gas supply and the price volatility caused by increasing dependence on imported gas.
“We believe new UK domestic gas, from sites such as Loxley, could help increase security of supply and help mitigate against such price volatility.
“In these respects, moving Loxley forward would also be entirely consistent with the Prime Minister’s recent statement regarding a new energy strategy that includes using more domestic hydrocarbons to reduce Russian imports.”
He added that new UK production also offered a much lower pre-combustion carbon footprint than imported pipeline gas and LNG, with potentially significant benefit to the country’s net zero plans.