Keep up to date with March 2024’s news with our digest of daily updated headlines about the business, regulation and campaigns around UK fracking, shale, and onshore oil and gas.

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

Thursday 28 March 2024

Analysis: New oil and gas projects since 2021 could emit 14bn tonnes of CO2. Analysis by CarbonBrief of Global Energy Monitor finds that burning all the oil and gas from new discoveries and newly approved projects since 2021 would emit at least 14.1bn tonnes of carbon dioxide (GtCO2)

Surge of new oil and gas activity threatens to wreck Paris climate goals. The Guardian reports on a new report by Global Energy Monitor, which concluded that world fossil fuel producers are on track to nearly quadruple output from newly approved projects by decade’s end.

Wednesday 27 March 2024

Loxley drilling deadline extended again. DrillOrDrop report on announcement by UKOG that it has been given a further year to drill its Loxley-1 exploration well near Dunsfold in Surrey. This is the third time the deadline has been extended.

Expansion plans published for Wressle well site. DrillOrDrop report on proposals published today by the UK’s second largest onshore oil production site to increase its footprint by about a third and drill two new wells.

Industry plan to cut flaring and venting. DrillOrDrop report on plan by the regulator, the North Sea Transition Authority, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from oil and gas production sites.

Explainer: Why some countries are aiming for ‘net negative’ emissions. CarbonBrief reports on targets, including Germany’s, to reach net-negative emissions (where removals exceed emissions) later this century

US clamps down on oil and gas firms releasing potent greenhouse gas. The Washington Post reports that oil and gas companies will have to reduce their methane emissions under a new rule finalised by the Bureau of Land Management, an arm of the US Interior Department.

Monday 25 March 2024

Energy prices may rise as Treasury ‘stifles’ offshore wind. The Times cites new analysis by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit that the UK government is “stifling the development of cheaper offshore wind power”. The unit says this year’s contracts for difference auction, which opens for bids this week, is being hampered by “unrealistic” power price forecasts that effectively diminish the pot of money available.

Saturday 23 March 2024

Oil executives talk down rapid shift to green energy as profits boom. The FT reports executives from major oil and gas companies used the CERAWeek conference last week in Houston, Texas “to argue against a rapid transition to green energy”. The paper says “fossil fuel companies are emboldened by high demand and record profits despite rising alarm over climate change” and that “industry leaders argue consumers are unwilling to pay the costs associated with a rapid shift to wind and solar energy”.

Is Science Museum’s green power gallery tainted by fossil-fuel cash? The Guardian reports the new Science Museum gallery, Energy Revolution, has gone down badly – with environmentalists. The paper says they picketed the ­gallery’s private opening party and confronted guests with ­banners denouncing the  ­museum’s decision to accept sponsorship from the Indian energy group Adani, arranged through its renewables subsidiary, Adani Green Energy.

Friday 22 March 2024

Angus Energy chair resigns. Angus Energy announces that its non-executive board chairman, Patrick Clanwilliam, has resigned. He joined the board in 2019 and became interim chair in August 2023. He has been replaced as interim chair by Krzysztof Zielicki.

Tuesday 19 March 2024

Breaking: “Enough is enough” – councillors call time on UKOG’s Broadford Bridge oil site. DrillOrDrop report on the decision by West Sussex County Council to refuse a fifth extension to the life of UKOG’s Broadford Bridge site, which has been mothballed since 2018.

Angus Energy accounts and financial statement. Angus Energy announces that gas sales from the three wells at the Saltfleetby field in Lincolnshire rose by nearly 700% in 2023, compared with 2022. The company also said it had begun talks with Trafigura on using underground storage at Saltfleetby for gas, carbon dioxide or hydrogen.

Monday 18 March 2024

Campaigners toast end of Notts shale gas site. DrillOrDrop report on celebrations of victory in a 10-year David and Goliath battle at Misson.

Court ruling erodes climate activists’ ability to defend themselves – as the planet heats up. The Guardian reports the removal of the “consent” defence by the court of appeal means defendants on trial for criminal damage can no longer use it in England and Wales.

INEOS to shift 44 jobs at Grangemouth as it closes ethanol production. Energy Voice reports Ineos O&P UK has announced a proposal to shut down ethanol production at its Grangemouth refinery in the first quarter of 2025.

Thursday 14 March 2024

Angus Energy general meeting. Angus Energy announces a general meeting gave it the go-ahead to issue 26,513,000 fee shares to Adelph Commodities in relation to Trafigura Financing.

Wednesday 13 March 2024

UKOG loan reduction. UKOG reports that it has given its lenders, RiverFort Global Opportunities PCC Ltd and YA ll PN Ltd, 206,965,282 shares. The company said further conversion of equity shares by the investors will further reduce the principal balance.

Tuesday 12 March 2024

Rishi Sunak announces new gas power stations. The prime minister, writing in the Telegraph, says “boosting gas capacity is the insurance policy Britain needs while we deliver net zero”. Also reported by BBC News, Independent, Energy Voice and the Guardian

Monday 11 March 2024

UK emissions in 2023 fell to lowest level since 1879. Analysis by CarbonBrief finds UK greenhouse gas emissions fell by 5.7% in 2023. Emissions fell to 383m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e), the first time they have dropped below 400MtCO2e since Victorian times. UK emissions are now 53% below 1990 levels, the analysis found. The 2023 drop was largely due to an 11% fall in gas demand.

Youth activists need protection against smear campaigns and arrests, says UN expert. The Guardian reports on findings by the UN special rapporteur on human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor, who says children campaigning to save the planet and defend human rights must be taken seriously and better protected from online smear campaigns, arrests and physical attacks

Friday 8 March 2024

Council planners back two more years at Broadford Bridge oil site. DrillOrDrop reports that West Sussex council planners say the life of the mothballed Broadford Bridge oil exploration site should be extended by two more years to allow UK Oil & Gas to review data from two other wells in southern England.

Thursday 7 March 2024

Campaigners welcome restoration of Notts shale gas site. DrillOrDrop article on reaction from local campaigners to the formal end of shale gas operations at Springs Road, Misson.

Jeremy Hunt missed this one pivotal word out of his 65-minute Budget speech. Caroline Lucas, writing in the Metro, accuses the government of “swinging the axe of austerity to the very bitter end”. Once again, she said, “there was a gaping climate-shaped hole in the heart of this final Tory budget. There was no single mention in the 65-minute speech and also “next to nothing in new green investment”, she said.

Budget fell far short on UK green investment, experts say. The Guardian reports comments by climate experts that opportunities to revive the UK’s flagging economy by boosting green industry were missed in one of the least green budgets in recent years.

‘No drilling! No drilling!’: climate choir sings truth to power in Palace of Westminster. The Guardian reports the Voices of Climate Choir Movement filled St Stephen’s Hall in the group’s most dramatic protest yet.

Wednesday 6 March 2024

Hampshire urged to ban new oil and gas developments in updated planning rules. DrillOrDrop report on response to the Hampshire revised minerals and waste plan.

2023 UK onshore oil production sinks to new low. DrillOrDrop review of production figures for 2023 for onshore oil and gas.

Oil and gas profits windfall tax extended until 2029. BBC News and others report the windfall tax on oil and gas firms has been extended by 12 months in Jeremy Hunt’s Budget despite opposition from the Scottish Conservatives. The 35% surcharge on profits from high energy prices had been scheduled to end in March 2028.

UK spring budget 2024: Key climate and energy announcements. CarbonBrief reports the UK chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, failed to mention the term “climate change” at all when setting out the government’s spring budget – the first since it was confirmed that 2023 was the earth’s hottest year on record.

Trump election win could add 4bn tonnes to US emissions by 2030. Analysis by CarbonBrief concludes that a Donald Trump victory in November’s presidential election could lead to an additional 4bn tonnes of US emissions by 2030, compared with Joe Biden’s plans.

‘Explosive growth’ in petrochemical production poses risks to human health. The Guardian reports on a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine that warns of deadly health risks from fossil fuel pollution, including alarming rise in neurodevelopmental issues.

Tuesday 5 March 2024

UKOG announces approval of share reorganisation. A statement confirms a general meeting approved plans for a share reorganisation and consolidation. DrillOrDrop background and update

Monday 4 March 2024

Campaigners get go-ahead for legal challenge against oil extraction in Lincolnshire Wolds. DrillOrDrop report on the permission for campaigners opposing plans for oil production at Biscathorpe in the Wolds AONB.

Daily onshore gas production was up 168% in December 2023 compared with the previous month, with the resumption of production at Saltfleetby. DrillOrDrop report on UK onshore oil and gas production for December 2023.

Chris Packham cleared to challenge Government’s net zero rollback in court. PA reports the naturalist and TV presenter, Chris Packham, has been granted permission for a judicial review of the Government’s decision to reverse some of its green policies.

Saturday 2 March 2024

Government documents ‘blow gaping hole’ in its case for Cumbrian coalmine. The Guardian reports on previously unseen documents that appear to contradict the government’s case for a new coalmine in Cumbria, approved by Michael Gove in December 2022. The documents, drafted at about the same time by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, say the opposite.

Friday 1 March 2024

Devolved leaders reject shortlist for climate watchdog chair over Tory links. The Guardian reports Ministers in Westminster have been accused of trying to blunt the teeth of the UK’s net zero watchdog by appointing a Tory loyalist to the post of chair of the Climate Change Committee. The leaders of the devolved governments in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have refused to approve any of the six shortlisted candidates, saying they are all too close to the Conservatives and lack diversity.

Power surge for Drax as earnings hit £1bn. The Times reports a 10 fold jump in pre-tax profits at the owner of Britain’s biggest power station.

Energy-related CO2 emissions hit record levels in 2023: IEA. AFP reports comments by the International Energy Agency that energy-related carbon dioxide emissions rose to a record level in 2023, but the growth slowed from previous years thanks to continued expansion of clean technologies.

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