Oil-based drilling muds will be allowed on a new well in East Yorkshire, one of the companies involved said this morning.

In a statement, Union Jack Oil plc announced that the Environment Agency had issued a permit variation for the West Newton-B well site in Holderness.

The variation will allow the use of oil-based fluids during drilling and testing a horizontal well targeting the Permian formations, the statement said.

Union Jack, which has a 16.665% stake in the West Newton licence, PEDL183, said:

“Independent technical studies have clearly demonstrated that the use of oil-based drilling fluids will be a key factor in enhancing flow rates from wells drilled in the West Newton field.”

The well is due to be drilled during the first half of 2024, the company has said.

This is the third time the West Newton-B well has been delayed. Previous announcements said it would be drilled in 2020 and then the second half of 2021.

Union Jack said today the well path selection and engineering design had been completed and the wellbore casing purchased.

The West Newton-B operator, Rathlin Energy, had approached drilling rig and other contractors, Union Jack added.

The first well at West Newton-B suffered formation damage, which limited the flow of hydrocarbons, it emerged in 2021.

At the time of writing, the Environment Agency has not announced the permit variation at West Newton-B. We will update this article with links to the permit changes.

DrillIOrDrop reported in August 2023 that the Environment Agency had given formal consent for oil and gas production at the nearby West Newton-A site, where there is planning permission for an additional four wells.