DrillOrDrop will be reporting in 2025 on the continuing repercussions of the Finch judgement at the Supreme Court.

The court ruled that decisions on oil and gas production plans should take account of the emissions from burning hydrocarbons (see our Review of 2024 for details of the judgement and its implications).

We’ll also be watching progress on site restorations, legal challenges, other site plans and government initiatives.

Supreme Court repercussions

Horse Hill

The Horse Hill operator must resubmit its application for oil production and new drilling after permission was quashed by the Supreme Court in June 2024

Surrey County Council said additional information would be added to the application, which must now consider the climate impact of greenhouse gas emissions from the use of Horse Hill oil (known as indirect, scope 3 or downstream emissions).

The Horse Hill site currently has no planning permission. The county council expects the operator, a subsidiary of UK Oil & Gas plc, to remove all plant and equipment not essential to security.

Biscathorpe

We’re looking out for a new appeal hearing by Egdon Resources against the refusal of planning permission for long-term oil production and a new well at Biscathorpe in Lincolnshire.

Arrangements were reported to be underway in autumn 2024. The Biscathorpe plans were refused by the county council in 2021. The decision was later overturned by a planning inspector, before being quashed following the Supreme Court judgement. A new appeal will need to consider the indirect emissions from the use of Biscathorpe oil.

Saltfleetby expansion

Angus Energy had been expected to resubmit a revised planning application in 2024 for expansion and four new wells on two sites at its Saltfleetby gas site in Lincolnshire. The company withdrew the application following the Supreme Court judgement and expected to include an assessment of emissions from burning the gas.

Wressle expansion

Egdon Resources is expected to resubmit an application for two new wells, small-scale fracking and gas processing at its Wressle site near Scunthorpe. North Lincolnshire Council granted planning permission but this was quashed following the Supreme Court judgement.

 Cumbrian coal mine

Will West Cumbrian Mining submit a new planning application for a new mine near Whitehaven? The permission for England’s first deep coalmine for 30 years were quashed in September 2024 following Finch Supreme Court judgement and the company did not appeal.

Rosebank and Jackdaw

The outcome of a legal challenge brought by Greenpeace and Uplift to consent for two North Sea fields is expected in 2025. The case against Rosebank off Shetland and Jackdaw off Aberdeen opened at the Court of Session in Edinburgh in November 2024. The UK government admitted in court that Rosebank was approved unlawfully. 

Government emissions consultation

A consultation on government supplementary guidance on assessing downstream emissions from offshore oil and gas projects closes on 8 January 2025.

The consultation is another repercussion of the Supreme Court judgement, which had implications for the offshore, as well as the onshore industry.

Site restoration

Preston New Road

Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road shale gas site near Blackpool must be restored to farmland by 8 June 2025, under a condition of the planning permission.

The company is already in breach of another planning condition by failing to plug and abandon the two horizontal fracked wells by 8 December 2024.

Cuadrilla has said it could decommission the wells by the end of March 2025. But this date depends on whether a rig is available. Opponents doubt that the site can be restored by the planning deadline.

Broadford Bridge

UK Oil & gas (UKOG) is also in breach of its planning permission at the Broadford Bridge oil site in West Sussex. The company has failed to plug and abandon the wells or restore the pad to farmland after its planning permission expired in 2024.

A UKOG representative told West Sussex County Council the company had set a target date of 5 May 2025 for site restoration. The restoration project could be completed by 18 July 2025, the company has suggested.

Small-scale fracks

We’ll be watching for an application for a new gas site at Burniston in North Yorkshire, which is expected to include proposals for small-scale fracking. The site operator, Europa Oil & Gas, had said it expected to submit an application by the end of 2024. So far, no details have been published.

We’ll also be following plans for small-scale fracking at East Yorkshire’s West Newton-A site, where the operator, Rathlin Energy, has applied to vary its environmental permit. The extended consultation runs until 24 January 2025. (See also Wressle expansion plans above.)

Other plans

A decision is expected early in 2025 on Angus Energy’s planning application to allow the import of produced water to its Brockham oil site in Surrey. The next county council planning meetings, where the application could be discussed, are on Wednesday 29 January and Wednesday 26 February 2025

We will report (Wednesday 28 or Thursday 29 January 2025) on an appeal court challenge to Angus Energy’s plans for a well test at its Balcombe oil site in West Sussex.

We’ll also be watching whether UKOG meets its deadline of 30 June 2025 to start drilling the Loxley-1 well near Dunsfold in Surrey.

Will Star Energy start the export of electricity from its Singleton oil site in the South Downs National Park on schedule in mid-2025? The site has been flaring waste gas but has planning consent for electricity generation and a grid connection.

And will Egdon Resources submit a new planning application for its proposed oil site at North Kelsey in Lincolnshire? The company was unanimously refused permission in 2022 to extend the life of the site and drill and test a well, with a new trajectory. Egdon appealed against the refusal but withdrew its challenge just before the appeal hearing in 2023. A planning inspector ruled that a full new application was needed, with a local consultation and updated reports. The company had sought to make what it regarded as minor changes to the previous application.

What will happen at Horse Hill when the work programme for PEDL137 expires on 30 September 2025?

Government

• The UK government has until May 2025 to produce a new climate plan after two successful legal challenges to previous versions
• The UK government is also expected to publish responses in 2025 to its proposed revisions to planning policy in the National Planning Policy Framework
• The UK government said in November 2024 that it would consult on the implementation of Labour’s manifesto commitment not to issue new oil and gas licences
• The Climate Change Committee (CCC) publishes the UK’s seventh carbon budget on 26 February 2025.
• The CCC’s adaptation progress report is due on Wednesday 30 April 2025 and the latest mitigation progress report is scheduled for 25 June 2025
• The Northern Ireland Executive is expected to introduce legislation in late 2025 to ban onshore oil and gas operations
• From 1 June 2025, the North Sea Transition Authority will require operators to provide plans and budgets in their emissions reduction action plan for continuous improvements in flaring and venting, leading to cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
• Lincolnshire County Council is expected to publish its response to the consultation on the updated minerals and waste local plan.

Please let us know if we’ve missed important developments expected during 2025.

Our Review of 2025 is here and look out for Who drilled where in 2024, coming soon.

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