An oil and gas site in East Yorkshire has got a go-ahead for reservoir stimulation, the site operator announced this morning.

Rathlin Energy said the Environment Agency (EA) had issued a variation to the environmental permit at the West Newton-A site.

The company had sought permission to inject oil-based fluid and proppant into the target reservoir at pressures high enough to fracture rocks.

The proposed operation is designed to improve the flow of oil and gas at the West Newton A2 well at Fosham Road, Marton.

A statement on Rathlin’s website this morning said the permit variation was subject to pre-operational conditions.

The company said:

“This key regulatory milestone clears a major hurdle in the company’s path toward development and eventual production at West Newton, strengthening Rathlin’s ability to advance its UK onshore assets within a responsible environmental and social governance framework.”

Reabold Resources, the major investor in Rathlin, said this morning:

“The Company believes that the planned recompletion of the WNA-2 well is a low risk and low cost activity that will further derisk the project and provide important information in optimising future production wells.

“The Company is confident that West Newton will prove to be an important strategic asset to the UK as the country looks to secure domestic energy supply and affordable energy.”

Last year, opponents of the variation questioned the safety of the process proposed for West Newton-A in the Kirkham Abbey Formation (KAF).

The local campaign group, West Newton Said No, quoted a scientific paper which said the porosity and permeability of the formation “vary significantly over short distances”. This led to “high uncertainties when predicting subsurface fluid flow and posing a massive challenge when reservoir modelling the KAF”, the paper concluded.

Before the West Newton operation can go ahead, the operator will need to submit for approval a hydraulic fracture plan. This must set out how seismic activity would be mitigated and monitored.

DrillOrDrop asked the industry regulator, the North Sea Transition Authority, for there were formal definition of reservoir and well stimulations. The organisation said:

“The NSTA dos not have formal and separate definitions of well stimulation and reservoir stimulation.”

Activity at West Newton-A

Local people spotted activity at the West Newton-A site last week (Thursday 12 February 2026) and contacted Rathlin Energy.

A spokesperson for Rathlin said:

“The work you are referring to is routine wellhead maintenance that Rathlin Energy (UK) Limited undertakes annually. This has been done over the last few years in the same way, which is slightly odd that it hasn’t been picked up on/queried previously. The maintenance team has been on site for a couple of days now and will be finished tomorrow I am reliably informed.

“At the moment, I don’t have any update on the reinstatement of the community liaison meetings/comms. As soon as I know more I will, of course, let you know.”