The oil company at the centre of a landmark legal ruling on climate emissions has again delayed the publication of its annual report and accounts.

UK Oil & Gas plc (UKOG) announced this week the accounts for 2024 would be published “no later than early September 2025”.

The news came two days before the company’s promised publication date.

UKOG said its interim results for the six months to March 2025, which had also been delayed, would be published at the same time.

The original deadline for publication of the annual accounts was 31 March 2025. But three days before, UKOG said the date would not be met because of “additional time required by its auditors”.

Share trading was suspended until the accounts were published, which the company said would be “as soon as possible”.

Three months later, UKOG said the annual report was “now well advanced and the Company expects to publish the report before the end of July”.

UKOG said it had changed auditor earlier this year. The company’s website reports that the auditor is Moore Kingston Smith LLP.

The accounts for the year to September 2023, published on 1 April 2024, were audited by PKF Littlejohn LLP. The auditor’s report highlighted “a material uncertainty exists that may cast significant doubt on the company’s [UKOG’s] ability to continue as a going concern”. PKF Littlejohn said it was willing to “continue in office as auditor”.

Planning permission problems

Horse Hill

UKOG is the parent company of the operator of the Horse Hill oil site in Surrey, where planning permission was quashed in 2024 when the Supreme Court ruled the decision was unlawful. The court said Surrey County Council should have considered the climate emissions of burning the oil, not just the emissions from the production process. Production has stopped at Horse Hill but the latest reports said the site has not been cleared.

Broadford Bridge and Dunsfold

A UKOG subsidiary operates the Broadford Bridge oil site in West Sussex, which also has no planning permission. Earlier this month (July 2025), West Sussex County Council told DrillOrDrop the well had not yet been plugged and abandoned and site had not been cleared or restored. Two breach of condition notices were served on 6 May 2025 requiring the operator, UKOG (234) Ltd, to do this work by 6 February 2026. The council confirmed today there was no change to its earlier statement on Broadford Bridge. Also earlier this month, UKOG (234) relinquished its licence to explore or produce hydrocarbons from the Broadford Bridge area. This also affected a proposed gas site at Dunsfold in Surrey.