Keep up with June 2021’s news with our digest of daily updated headlines about the business, regulation and campaigns around UK fracking, shale, and onshore oil and gas.

Click here for headlines from previous months. Please let us know if we’ve missed something important  contact@DrillOrDrop.com

30 June 2021

UKOG protest injunction granted against five campaigners. DrillOrDrop report on High Court ruling.

UKOG interim accounts report £1m+ loss. DrillOrDrop report

Revealed: ExxonMobil’s lobbying war on climate change legislation. Channel 4 and Unearthed report that a senior ExxonMobil lobbyist has been captured on camera revealing how the oil giant is using its power and influence to water down US climate legislation.

Egdon’s conditional equity fundraising of about £1.44m. Egdon Resources announces it has conditionally raised approximately £1.44 million before costs via a subscription for new ordinary shares of 1 pence each in the Company.

MOU with Causeway Geothermal for West Firsby Field. Europa Oil & Gas announces it has signed an memorandum of understanding with Causeway Geothermal to carry out studies to assess the potential of West Firsby as a test site for geothermal energy systems.

29 June 2021

UK Oil & Gas in court to finalise protest injunction. DrillOrDrop report on High Court hearing on UKOG protest injunction.

Wressle proppant squeeze delayed. DrillOrDrop report

Angus Energy interim accounts report no earnings. DrillOrDrop report

26 June 2021

Guest post: Ann Stewart, of Weald Action Group, argues that IGas plans to produce hydrogen from methane greenwash continued unabated fossil fuel production. DrillOrDrop report on opposition to IGas plans

Drilling starts on Basur-3 well. UKOG announces that drilling begins on the Turkish well’s initial 17 1/2 inch diameter hole section. UKOG has a 50% interest in the Basur-3 licence.

25 June 2021

Rathlin Energy posts formal notice of application for West Newton oil production and site expansion. DrillOrDrop report

Supreme Court backs protesters and rules blocking roads can be ‘lawful’ way to demonstrate. The Independent reports on a ruling by the Supreme Court that protests can be a lawful excuse to block roads.

24 June 2021

CCC says planning must deliver net zero – but no support for Horse Hill challenge. DrillOrDrop report on the annual report of the Climate Change Committee and its views on the landmark legal challenge of emissions assessments in planning applications

23 June 2021

Radioactive waste disposal allowed to continue at oil site in national park. DrillOrDrop report on decision by Environment Agency to grant a permit for reinjection at Singleton in the South Downs National Park of produced water containing naturally-occurring radioactive material.

Proposed new Shetland oil field a climate ‘obscenity’ ahead of UN talks In Glasgow. Friends of the Earth Scotland react “with fury” at plans to open a new oil field, containing 800 million barrels, west of Shetland

22 June 2021

The government should drop its plan to ban noisy protests in England and Wales, a parliamentary committee has warned. DrillOrDrop report on the response of the Joint Committee on Human Rights to the government’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.

New plans to be submitted for €650m Shannon gas terminal. The Irish Times reports that new plans to build a €650 million liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the Shannon estuary are to be submitted to An Bord Pleanála despite a move by the Government last month to prevent Ireland from importing fracked gas.

21 June 2021

PEDL234 drilling commitment deadline extended by two years. UKOG announces the Oil & Gas Authority has granted a two-year extension to the time period in which drilling the Loxley-1 gas appraisal well must start – to 31 December 2023. This is in response to Covid-19 delays and the refusal of planning permission.

Basur-3 drilling rig mobilised. UKOG announces that the drilling rig has been mobilised to the Basur-3 appraisal well pad in Turkey

18 June 2021

Date set for appeal hearing over Surrey oil production. DrillOrDrop report on date scheduled by the Court of Appeal for a legal challenge about the climate impact of oil production at the Horse Hill well site in Surrey.17 June 2021

17 June 2021

Appeal over Balcombe well test not “foremost in our minds” – Angus Energy. DrillOrDrop report on comments by Angus Energy that it is weighing up whether to appeal over refusal of planning consent for a well test at Balcombe, West Sussex. But the managing director says the decision is not “foremost in our minds”

16 June 2021

CCC: Adaptation to climate risks ‘underfunded and ignored’ by UK government. Carbon Brief reports on conclusions by the Climate Change Committee that efforts to manage climate risks in the UK leave the nation vulnerable to rising temperatures.

15 June 2021

Alba exits Brockham licence. DrillOrDrop report on latest news from Brockham in Surrey and Lidsey in West Sussex. Sharecast

14 June 2021

IGas announces plans to produce hydrogen from methane at two sites in Surrey. DrillOrDrop report

13 June 2021

Reports from the G7 summit. Guardian (G7 reaffirmed goals but failed to provide funds needed to reach them, experts say), Reuters (G7 climate commitments judged too weak to bag COP26 success), Press Association (G7 leaders clear that action to tackle climate change has to start with us: PM), Politico (G7 leaders stumble on coal phaseout timeline), Times (Leaders sign up to fund ‘green industrial revolution’), Independent (G7: ‘Dead mermaids’ appear on beach in protest calling on leaders to act on ocean death)

Anti-fracking activist welcomes report’s claim that it is ‘not compatible with human rights law’. The Impartial Reporter says Diane Little, an opponent of fracking, has welcome a report by the Irish Centre for Human Rights which concluded that fracking was incompatible with human rights law obligations.

11 June 2021

Time’s up for Ineos at Harthill shale gas site – planning permission expires. DrillOrDrop report

Views sought on UKOG oil drilling plans on Isle of Wight – public consultation underway on environmental permit. DrillOrDrop report, On the Wight (14/6/2021)

9 June 2021

Rathlin’s 25-year oil drilling plans “not likely to have significant effects on the environment”, says minister. DrillOrDrop report on screening direction for West Newton-A

8 June 2021

Most UK adults want government spending on North Sea oil redirected to renewables. A survey of 2,300 people by Paid to Pollute, ahead of the G7 summit, finds that 63% believe the billions of government spending on North Sea oil and gas should be switched to low carbon industries. A further 61% want a plan to wind down existing extraction of UK oil and gas. 67% think Westminster should support industry workers to retain in the low carbon economy. Insider.co.uk, the National, Energy Voice

Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. Parliamentary committee discussion and votes on protest clauses. Morning and afternoon sessions 

7 June 2021

Fracking bans: Ireland firmly in favor while Germany sits on the fence. Energy Transition reports on the the fault lines of the debate about banning fracking and explains why it is vital that the general public weighs in to comment on the draft report of the German Expert Committee on Fracking.

4 June 2021

Rathlin pledges to cut daily tanker numbers in West Newton plan. DrillOrDrop report on Rathlin Energy’s response to online consultation

3 June 2021

Planners seek more details on national importance of Egdon’s Biscathorpe oil plans. DrillOrDrop report on Lincolnshire County Council request for more information. The council said the company’s application has failed to demonstrate fully that drilling and oil production in a protected landscape is in the national interest.

“Saltfleetby loan fully available”. Angus Energy reports that the full £12m loan facility required for the redevelopment of the Saltfleetby gas field is now “fully available”. The company says £5.84m has been drawn down and the balance will be drawn in the coming weeks.

Activists block access to Peterhead Power Station, accuse SSE of ‘greenwashing’. Energy Voice reports that campaigners have blocked the entrance to Peterhead Power Station this morning in a protest against site operator SSE’s sponsorship of the COP26 summit.

2 June 2021

Latest UK onshore oil production data. DrillOrDrop report on production from February 2021.

Glasgow City Council defers decision on fossil fuel investments. Friends of the Earth Scotland and Divest Strathclyde report that Glasgow City Council has agreed that divestment of pension funds from fossil fuels could happen in principle. A decision on whether to stop investing in fossil fuels must now take place at a meeting of Strathclyde Pension Fund committee in September. Independent

Leaks account for half of major methane sources at largest US oilfield: study. PhysOrg reports on a study by NASA which found that malfunctioning equipment accounts for about half of the biggest sources of potent greenhouse gas methane emissions at the United States’ largest oilfield

1 June 2021

Climate activists blockade BP Hamble oil terminal. DrillOrDrop report on protest by Extinction Rebellion at the Hamble oil terminal near Southampton. New York Times, Daily Express, In your area

IGas planning consent for Stoke-on-Trent geothermal scheme. IGas reports that it has received planning approval for a deep geothermal scheme in the Etruria Valley.

BP CEO calls IEA scenario ‘credible’ despite planning more oil and gas projects. Energy Voice reports that Bernard Looney has described an IEA net zero scenario calling for the end of new oil and gas projects as “credible”, despite the firm planning major fossil fuel developments.

‘Get its own house in order’: UK urged to end new fossil fuel licensing in North Sea to meet net zero. Business Green reports on a letter from 50 campaign groups which urges the UK government to heed recent advice of International Energy Agency that growing fossil fuel supply is incompatible with a 1.5C world. Edie.net

Revealed: the UK’s worst carbon polluters aren’t who you think. Greenpeace reports that regulating the finance sector is probably the biggest single thing the government could do to stop the global climate catastrophe.