UKOG to comply with ‘perplexing’ Horse Hill ruling

UK Oil & Gas plc will submit a new plan or amend its existing one for Horse Hill oil production after yesterday’s ruling that end-use burning emissions must be included in the application.

REGULATIONS

The legal challenge was brought by Sarah Finch on behalf of the Weald Action Group (Finch et al) to Surrey County Council’s grant of Horse Hill production.

The Supreme Court’s decision, by three to two, stated that the council had granted permission in 2019 without asking for or considering estimated end-use carbon combustion emissions of produced hydrocarbons.

Following the “retrospective ruling” UKOG said it would work with the council to rectify the situation “promptly” and include end-use combustion emissions in the environmental impact assessment.

“In the case of a retrospective planning solution, the field’s historic and future expected production volumes would fall below the 500 tonnes/day (c. 3,700 barrels/day) production threshold for which an EIA is mandatory for petroleum extraction developments,” added the company.

“It should be noted that the original 2018 planning submission and 2019 consent were subject to the prevailing 2017 Planning Act EIA Regulations and precedents, which were interpreted by SCC to require consideration of only those emissions derived from the actual development.

“It being reasonably considered that any end-use derived emissions would be subject to other end-use emissions controls (e.g at refineries or in vehicle use) which lie beyond the developer’s control.

“This position was upheld by numerous judges in prior hearings from 2020 to 2022, including England’s two most senior planning judges, Lord Justices Holgate (2020) and Lindblom (2021) and the Court of Appeal (2022).”

Chief executive Stephen Sanderson said that the “rather perplexing” ruling was “counter to all prior judgements”.

“However, although Horse Hill is a small part of our portfolio, it still has a role to play in both the company’s and UK’s future transitional energy mix and thus we look forward to working closely with the local planning authority to rectify this retrospective change to EIA requirements.” 

UKOG holds 85.635% in Horse Hill and Alba Mineral Resources plc owns 11.765%.