HOME COUNTIES ‘HAVE AS MUCH OIL AS NORTH SEA’
Area may boast 100bn barrels ... but experts say that’s optimistic
TRILLIONS of pounds worth of oil – as much as the entire North Sea fields – lies beneath an area of England dubbed ‘Britain’s Dallas’, it was claimed yesterday.
Analysis suggests there is up to 100billion barrels of the fossil fuel under the Home Counties.
The potential goldmine in the Weald Basin, across Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire and Kent, could meet up to a third of Britain’s oil demand within 15 years, according to the consortium exploring the area.
This could reduce reliance on oil from the Middle East and Russia and could be a major boost for British industry at a time when the North Sea supply is dwindling.
But industry experts remained sceptical of the claims, with one describing them as ‘overly optimistic’. Since 1975, of an esti-
‘World-class potential resource’
mated 100billion barrels of oil in the UK North Sea, only 45billion have been pumped out. It is believed another 20billion barrels can be recovered before extraction becomes too difficult.
Experts warned last night that only a fraction of the Weald Basin oil may be accessible for extraction. They also claimed fracking could be required to retrieve significant volumes.
Horse Hill Developments consortium made the discovery during test drilling in a well five miles from Gatwick Airport.
UK Oil & Gas Investments, which has a 30 per cent stake, said ‘cutting-edge’ data suggested the oilfield holds 158million barrels per square mile – equating to 100bil- lion barrels across the basin. At current crude prices, this could be worth £3.7trillion. Stephen Sanderson of UKOG, which insisted it would not use fracking, said: ‘By 2030, we could produce 10 per cent to 30 per cent of the UK’s oil demand from within the Weald area.’
Neil Ritson, of fellow consortium firm Solo Oil, said it was of ‘ major economic significance’. If flow tests showed oil could be extracted, the production process could begin within 18 months, he added.
US firm Nutech, which conducted the tests, estimated 3 per cent to 15 per cent of the oilfield could be extracted – up to 15billion barrels.
UKOG chairman David Lenigas said drilling in the Weald could create ‘many thousands’ of jobs. Although the exploration site covered 55 square miles out of 1,100, he said the consortium was confident the entire region was oil-rich.
Mr Lenigas dismissed suggestions it would be hard to extract from the site, saying the ground was limestone which acted ‘like a big sponge’ and that ‘you can effectively suck the oil out’.
The Australian entrepreneur, who lives in Monaco, is a director of 16 British companies – and has been criticised in the past for exaggerating the success of his enterprises to jack up share prices. UKOG shares soared after the firm claimed to have discovered a ‘ worldclass potential resource’.
However, Professor Alastair Fraser, of Imperial College London, said the claims were ‘overly optimistic’.
A study by the university suggested a maximum of 40billion barrels in the region, while the British Geological Survey estimated the basin held just 4.4billion barrels of shale oil.
The professor added: ‘The question will be how much of it we can actually get out and whether it is commercially and technologically viable to do so.’
Malcolm Graham-Wood, of oil consultants Hydro-Carbon Capital, suggested residents might object to rows of onshore oil wells, adding: ‘The question is can it produce oil? It is extremely difficult with a very low recovery rate. This is potentially interesting but I wouldn’t attribute any value yet.’
But Mr Lenigas said: ‘To all those people who say I am hiking up the share price, I am not. I am just saying what the Nutech report says … I feel passionate that this is globally significant for Britain.’
A Department of Energy & Climate Change spokesman said: ‘The Government welcomes any new information which expands our understanding of the potential of the Weald Basin.’
Falklands oil row – Page 22