A statement by Cuadrilla about the controversial Balcombe oil site in West Sussex apparently conflicts with information from officials and the company’s own partner.

Cuadrilla’s chief executive, Francis Egan, said planning permission remained in place for a well test at Balcombe, the focus of opposition for more than a decade.

But earlier this year (2026), the mineral planning authority confirmed that the permission had lapsed.

Days later, Angus Energy, which operates Balcombe on behalf of Cuadrilla and its parent company, A J Lucas, told investors it would be resubmitting a planning application.

Official records confirm this has not yet happened.

Cuadrilla’s statement was part of the A J Lucas annual report, published in Australia earlier today (31 August 2026).

Mr Egan said in his report on UK operations (p10):

“On the Balcombe licence in southern England, operated by Angus Energy and in which Lucas holds at 75% carried interest, planning permission remains in place to undertake a flow test of the existing well. We continue to monitor developments and assess opportunities to unlock value from this conventional gas discovery.”

A separate section of the annual report (p16) said:

“[the Balcombe] Operator can therefore now progress”.

DrillOrDrop put the apparent conflict to A J Lucas and Cuadrilla and asked them to confirm whether no current planning permission existed for the Balcombe well test. We will update this article with any response.

Under Australian and UK law, lodging or distributing an annual report that contains false or misleading information is a serious offence.

West Sussex County Council lists eight planning applications for the Balcombe site on its online planning portal, dating from the first in 2010.

The most recent application, for an extended well test, was submitted in 2020 and refused unanimously by the West Sussex planning committee.

Angus Energy appealed and a planning inspector overturned the refusal on 13 February 2023. A High Court challenge by a local residents’ group was rejected in 2025 and a judge confirmed the company could go ahead with testing the well.

But Angus failed to complete the work by the planning deadline.

Condition 1 of the appeal decision stated:

“The development hereby permitted shall be begun before the expiration of three years from the date of this permission.”

Angus Energy did not carry out the well test by 13 February 2026.

At the time, DrillOrDrop asked West Sussex County Council whether planning permission had lapsed. The council replied:

“Yes, permission has now lapsed”.

A council spokesperson said the council was not aware of any work at the site in the previous week. The spokesperson added:

“We have not received any notification about the well test or the Lower Stumble site from Angus Energy or its agents in the past week.”

On 19 February 2026, Angus Energy said in a statement to investors:

“Following extended delays associated with the planning process at Balcombe, the Company intends to resubmit its planning application in due course and will provide further updates as appropriate.”

In Angus Energy’s most recent annual report, published on 9 April 2026, the company stated the well test would not be carried out before planning permission lapsed:

“due to the prolonged uncertainty created by the legal challenge, the Company was unable to complete the detailed engineering, procurement and contracting work required to commence the well test and the existing planning consent will expire before it can be activated.

“Accordingly, the Group intends to submit a revised planning application following completion of a technical review of the site and updated development plan. Management considers this to represent a timing and procedural matter rather than a loss of technical or commercial viability of the underlying asset.”

The company also said:

“the requirement to submit a revised application reflects timing and process constraints rather than any loss of technical or commercial potential. The company will continue to engage constructively with the local authority and local community as it progresses the revised development plan.”

Since then, Angus Energy has issued 13 statements to investors, none of which mentions the resubmission of a planning application for the Balcombe well test.

• References to Balcombe in the A J Lucas annual report describe it as a “gas discovery”. Cuadrilla’s website refers to Balcombe as an “exploration oil well”. Angus Energy’s website refers to Balcombe as an oil field.

Preston New Road

The A J Lucas annual report said of Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road former shale gas site, : “our focus shifted to site restoration and aftercare”.

Earlier this month, DrillOrDrop reported that acoustic fencing had been removed from the site near Blackpool.

Cuadrilla has until 8 January 2027 to complete restoration at Preston New Road to bring the site to a standard fit for agricultural use.

Mr Egan said today the restoration work “does not affect either the underlying petroleum licence interests of the extensive shale gas resource identified through the exploration programme”.

Other Cuadrilla sites

Elswick: Cuadrilla said it was generating electricity from gas extracted at the Elswick site near Preston New Road. It said Elswick “remains an important source of self-generated cash flow and demonstrates our ability to derive value from conventional gas opportunities”.

According to official data, Elswick produced a monthly average of just over 13ksm3 of gas in the first four months of 2026 for which data is available.

Yorkshire: Cuadrilla said it continued to hold 25% in licences operated by Egdon Resources containing “a significant discovered conventional gas accumulation”.

Lucas key financial figures

(Year ending 30 June 2026)

Net profit after tax: $28.5m (2025: net loss of $15m)

Group EBITDA*: $40.7m (2025: $14.5m)

Group revenue: $119.6m (2025: 145.6m)

UK settlement of legal dispute: $25.9m (see details here)

*Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amorization