Brockham oil site in Surrey, 2017. Photo: Brockham Protection Camp
Surrey County Council is standing by its position that Angus Energy does not have planning permission for oil production from a well at its Brockham site, despite an announcement of “final go-ahead” this morning.
Angus told shareholders at 7am that it had received official approval from the Oil and Gas Authority to produce from a sidetrack well, drilled in January 2017. (DrillOrDrop report).
It said:
“This OGA approval is the final regulatory consent needed for the Company to begin production from the Kimmeridge layers in well BR-X4Z”.
The company said it intended to begin production once it had installed a connection to the national grid to distribute electricity generated on site.
The BR-X4Z sidetrack has been the subject of a 10-month planning dispute. Surrey County Council told the OGA that neither drilling the well nor production from it was covered by existing planning permissions. Surrey also said it had advised Angus Energy that it should apply for retrospective planning permission.
A spokesperson for the council told DrillOrDrop today:
“Our position is unchanged.
“We are in ongoing discussions with Angus Energy”.
DrillOrDrop asked the council to confirm what action it would take if Angus began oil production. We’ll update this post with any response.
The council’s powers include enforcement action against operations where there is no planning permission. Actions could include an enforcement notice, a stop notice or a planning enforcement injunction.
We also asked the council if the Brockham site has planning permission for electricity generation. This post will be updated with any response.
Drill pipes on their way to Brockham, winter 2017. Photo: Brockham Protection Camp
“Complete disregard for local planning authority”
A local campaign group, Brockham Oil Watch, criticised the OGA for granting the approval:
“The Surrey County planning authority could not have been clearer in their consultation response directly to the OGA that there was no planning permission to drill BRX4Z in January this year, and that there is no permission to produce from it now, so today’s news demonstrates a complete disregard for and a snub to the local planning authority.
“It suggests that the OGA listens to the industry and its advisors and favours their view when it suits them, rather than to the local planning authority.
“It also shows a complete disregard, by the OGA, to the views of local people who have had no opportunity to be consulted on Angus’ current proposals.”
Angus repeated today that it had no plans to hydraulically fracture BR-X4Z.
But Brockham Oil Watch said the Kimmeridge formation was an unconventional shale oil play containing tight oil, that would “almost certainly would require stimulation through acidisation or hydraulic fracturing”.
The group said:
“The British Geological Survey, in a report commissioned by the OGA themselves (as a division of DECC in 2014) compared the Kimmeridge to a “hybrid Bakken-type shale play” in the USA.
“Thousands of wells have been drilled into the Bakken and fracked.
“But because of the artificially high threshold of water used in the definition of fracking in the UK Infrastructure Act, Angus can get away with calling their operations “conventional”, whilst leaving the door open to future non-conventional stimulation techniques, such as acidisation and hydraulic fracturing.”
“Slap in the face for residents”
MEP Keith Taylor at the Broadford Bridge oil site in West Sussex, 20 July 2017. Photo: Weald Oil Watch
The Green Party MEP for south east England, Keith Taylor, said it was “wholly inappropriate” for the OGA to give approval before the planning dispute had been resolved. He said:
“It’s a decision that reveals the Government’s claims about so-called ‘Gold Standards’ for oil and gas extraction are little more than an inside joke shared between the Government and its oil and gas industry backers.
“Giving the go-ahead for oil production to a firm that has breached the terms of its environmental and planning permissions and drilled a side-track well without any permission is a slap in the face for the local residents being asked to trust that Angus Energy will treat them and their local environment with respect.”
Mr Taylor added:
“A great number of my constituents living in and around Brockham are quite rightly very concerned about the dangers posed by increased oil production at this site, carried out by a company that has already proved it cannot be trusted.
“Allowing this damaging application to go ahead not only flies in the face of local public opinion but poses a serious threat to the environment and public health.
“Ultimately, the decision runs counter to our legally binding climate targets under the Paris Agreement and the UK’s own Climate Change Act – which obliges the UK to reduce, not increase, its reliance on fossil fuels.”
Share price response
Investors, writing online, were initially excited this morning by the announcement.
But later comments turned to surprise that there had not been a bigger increase in the value of Angus shares. The company, listed on the junior AIM stockmarket, ended the day 2.25% or 0.75p higher.
Edited to remove online comments on investor boards following requests from original posters
Categories: Regulation
DRILL OR DROP? 
Angus share price had already factored in OGA approval. The real movement will happen once Lidsey output is determined. Angus posters do have their clowns as well.
If you check back a short while you will easily see that many investors were hoping for TWO RNS this am, and got one.
Major ponzi scheme going on here, any small to medium investor who keeps there money in these two bob companies deserve everything they are about to get off their rip off major shareholders.
These companies think they can just turn up and do what they want!
What a silly thing to say.
They’ll all lose their money soon Paula don’t worry every day more and more get on to their Ponzi scheme. [Edited by moderator]the O&G is only for mugs!
If you believe what you read Paula. Bit like listening to Mr. Skinner.
You’d think you guys would be ploughing in to offshore wind like all the sensible traders, Just shows you how little in the know some of you are!
The ‘sensible’ traders got out of offshore wind almost two years ago, to get into the boondoggle that is ‘smart meters’.
Was permission obtained to reproduce cherry-picked LSE forum comments out of context (ie in isolation from the surrounding conversation)?
I think not
The comments are in the public domain , perhaps you would care to put them in context and maybe have the confidence to use your real name like everyone else?
It is common practice to use short extracts from material in the public domain (including on the Internet) without asking permission – contributors to the investors’ forums have done this in the past with material from DrillOrDrop. However, after a couple of those quoted asked for their material to be removed, we have deleted the investors’ posts from the article.
The posts are in the public domain at http://www.lse.co.uk/ShareChat.asp?ShareTicker=ANGS
Thank you Paul , if these comments were not meant to be read then they shouldn’t have been made in the first place. All sides have been represented here yet some seem to be having trouble with the truth . Why don’t the nay sayers ask Angus or SCC directly ? Because they wont like the answer if they get it. They would rather use bully boy tactics and made up names to try to ruin a good honest piece of journalism , shame on them.
Seen with my own eyes Martin.
I would really like to see an upturn in UK onshore oil & gas production to minimise imports but these small companies are only producing a few barrels. If you invested and are showing a profit,I recommend you get out fast before the price drops.
The only form of energy that is secure, by the very nature of the word, is renewable. Everything else is finite. The thing about burning fuel is it actually kills people through air pollution. Top Gear had a hydrogen car. from that moment on all companies dealing in death should have been suspended.
[Edited by moderator]
I would like to see investment in renewables, other countries are ahead of us, whilst we are held back in the Jurassic era
I can recommend Specsavers Paula.
You mean those “not in the know” who have increased their investments 3X over the last few months, Raymond? Pretty tired and discredited subject you have hung your hat on. Just a shame for you that the maths. are in the public domain. However, what about the investors who have Angus in their portfolio together with lithium developers. I suppose they just have to be labelled with some sort of split personality?
I find the investment “advice” on this subject amusing, as I have yet to see any sign over a long period that the advice comes from anyone likely to have greater insight than any of the investors. Angus is no different to any other share. You will lose money if you sell cheaper than you bought at, and vice verca. There is no obligation to buy and then hold, so those who gloat when they see a price fall forget to see if investors took the opportunity to sell before it fell, and then perhaps a second opportunity to buy back in once it had bottomed out. That is what the majority of investors look for in an exploration company, where prices will fluctuate according to the whims of RNSs. In that respect Raymond, Angus has already been a little goldmine to many, so your comments are too late, and inaccurate.
Didn’t need Specsavers Martin to see the bullying tactics of oil companies and Private Investors. As it happens I have evidence on CCTV and photos of exactly that behaviour. I wonder why you all have to resort to harsh comments, aggressive behaviour etc to earn some money, there are far better ways that don’t harm the planet or annoy the rest of civilised society