The UK’s Oil and Gas Authority has granted an extension to the drilling licence for UKOG Solent Limited, a 100%-owned subsidiary of UK Oil & Gas Investments PLC.
The one-year extension has been applied to the initial term of the Company’s offshore P1916 licence to 31st January 2018.
Drilling “intended to cause zero hazard”
Stephen Sanderson, UKOG’s Executive Chairman, commented,
“UKOG’s future planned Isle of Wight operations are aimed solely at the extraction of oil from conventional naturally-fractured limestone and sandstone reservoirs, not shale, and therefore will not utilise massive hydraulic fracturing.
“Our drilling on the Island is intended to cause zero hazards to any groundwater by employing the same drilling fluids and practices used by the water supply industry to drill drinking-water abstraction wells within the UK’s limestone aquifers.
“This drilling technology is intended to include the use of modern biodegradable drilling fluids, manufactured from 100% natural plant starches, which are approved for use under the UK’s Water Supply Regulations.”
A planning application is expected to be submitted to drill one or more ‘prospects’ on the Isle of Wight during the coming year.
Image: Dafne Cholet under CC BY 2.0
