Views are invited on plans for commercial oil and gas production and new drilling at Rathlin Energy’s remote well site at West Newton-A in East Yorkshire.

The Environment Agency said this morning it was minded to grant variations to the site’s permit that would allow production and drilling to go ahead.

The regulator said “minded to grant” meant it was:

“satisfied that the appropriate measures are in place for oil and gas extraction without causing harm to the environment or human health”.

It said climate change was “outside the remit” of the permit, air quality standards would not be exceeded and measures were “in place to minimise noise and vibration”.

Details of the contents of the drilling fluid have been excluded for commercial confidentiality.

A consultation is now underway on the draft decision and runs until 5 July 2023.

This is the second public consultation on the proposal. An initial one took place in December 2021.

If finalised, the permit changes would allow Rathlin Energy to drill up to six additional wells and two sidetracks at West Newton-A and carry out commercial oil and gas production from all the wells.

The company would also be allowed to install four combustion units to burn waste gas and generate electricity. It would flare waste gas during well clean-ups for about 30 days per well.

The Environment Agency said that after exploring issues and concerns raised about the scheme it could not find any reason to refuse.

Rathlin Energy has operated the West Newton-A site since 2013. It already has planning permission for production and more drilling.

In 2015, DrillOrDrop reported on at least 14 environmental permit breaches at the site. Details here and here.

Kathryn Richardson, area environment manager at the Environment Agency, said:

“The views of the local community on this site are hugely important, which is why we are once again running a consultation now we are at draft decision stage.

“In assessing this permit variation, we have completed a detailed and rigorous assessment of Rathlin Energy’s application to ensure the operating techniques and control measures at the proposed facility comply with the legal requirements of the Environmental Permitting Regulations – which are in place to protect people and the environment.” 

Key issues

The Environment Agency has published the 36-page draft decision document, which describes how it has responded to comments from the initial consultation. The EA’s responses on key issues include:

Air quality. “Relevant air quality standards for pollutants emitted from the facility will not be exceeded”, the EA said. The main pollutants include Nox and SO2.

Carbon emissions. Not mentioned in the draft decision document.

Climate change. The EA said:

“Wider issues such as climate change are outside the remit of this determination.”

Cold venting. The EA has accepted Rathlin’s assessment that cold venting – the release of unburned gas – would happen infrequently and for short periods. Cold venting releases volatile organic compounds (VOCs), hydrogen sulphides and methyl mercaptan. The EA said these chemicals could be “screened out as insignificant”.

Experience of operator. “There is no known reason to consider the Applicant will not comply with the permit conditions”, the EA said.

Gas releases. The site’s gas management plan would ensure that “gas is managed appropriately”, the EA said.

Groundwater monitoring. No additional boreholes were needed, the EA said.

Flooding. The EA said this was outside its remit but it has no significant concerns.

Light pollution. The EA said:

“Pollution from light is primarily a concern for considering visual impacts and as such covered by the planning process and outside of the remit of the Environment Agency.”

Noise. “Appropriate measures will be in place to prevent, or where that is not practicable, to minimise noise and vibration and to prevent pollution from noise and vibration outside the site boundary”, the EA said.

Smells. Rathlin’s odour management plan was satisfactory, the EA said.

Wellpad integrity. The EA said it was satisfied with Rathlin’s outline proposals for liner construction and risk assessments.

Wildlife. The EA said “we consider that the application will not affect any site of nature conservation, landscape and heritage, and/or protected species or habitats identified”. It said it had not consulted Natural England.

Improvements and conditions

The draft permit, also published, outlines the conditions that the operator would have to meet.

Rathlin is also required to make improvements to its operation at West Newton-A, the EA said. This includes reviews to the leak detection and repair plan, new procedures for notifying the EA about venting or emergency flaring and an analysis of flare feed gas for mercury.

The EA has also imposed two conditions before Rathlin can start work. These include

• Providing more information on construction and containment measures for an extension to the site
• Verifying that final design of gas engines and gas management does not increase environmental risk to air, noise or smell.

Link to consultation