DRILL OR DROP?

The lawyer who successfully led a landmark challenge on onshore oil and gas at the Supreme Court was appointed an OBE in the King’s birthday honours.

Estelle Dehon KC (third from left) with campaigner Sarah Finch (third from right) and the Weald Action Group legal team outside the Supreme Court after the landmark judgement on climate emissions, 20 June 2024. Photo: DrillOrDrop

Estelle Dehon KC received the honour for services to environmental law.

She is one of the UK’s leading environmental and climate law barristers.

She was named planning and environment silk of the year in the Chambers UK Bar Awards 2024. She has been on every ENDS Report power list of environmental professionals since 2022 and received a climate law and governance global leadership award at the COP27 climate conference. She was also named environmental/sustainability bar champion of the year at the Legal 500 UK ESG Awards 2024, and barrister of the year at The Lawyer Awards 2025.

Ms Dehon, of Cornerstone Barristers, said yesterday:

“I am absolutely bursting with pride and happiness to receive an OBE. And for services to environmental law! I never even dreamed that such a thing could happen. I am both thrilled and profoundly moved that it has and am also deeply grateful to those who nominated me, who clearly dream bigger than I do.”

Ms Dehon secured what became known as the Finch Ruling at the Supreme Court almost two years ago. The result required decision-makers to take into account carbon emissions from burning onshore oil and gas production.

The decision immediately quashed planning permission at the Horse Hill oil site in Surrey. It led to withdrawal of consent for oil production at Biscathorpe in the Lincolnshire Wolds and expansion of the Wressle oil site in North Lincolnshire.

The ruling also influenced decisions on the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields in the North Sea, permission for a new UK deep coalmine, infrastructure developments and industrial-scale agriculture.

Ms Dehon said:

“With greenhouse gas emissions still rising; adaptation still so slow and the degradation of nature continuing apace while being normalised in political speech, it is easy to be demotivated.

“But the legal community has so much ability to effect positive change. Our voices are heard in places of power across society. Now is the time we must use them.”

Last year, Ms Dehon argued in a legal opinion that proposals by Europa Oil & Gas at Burniston qualified as fracking under North Yorkshire’s planning policy. In 2016, she represented Friends of the Earth at the planning inquiry on Cuadrilla’s fracking plans at Preston New Road and Roseacre Wood in Lancashire.

Ms Dehon has been a trustee of the UK Environmental Law Association since 2019 and for three years was a trustee of the Women’s Environmental Network.

Since 2022, she has been co-chair of the Bar Council’s climate crisis working group. In 2023, Ms Dehon founded Cornerstone Climate, a cross-disciplinary centre for climate litigation and advice. She recently led production of The Cornerstone Climate Guide: Key Concepts and Definitions. The guide aimed to promote greater understanding of climate-conscious language and remove barriers to understanding key concepts, legislation and policy.

Reabold Resources has offered to buy Union Jack Oil, both companies confirmed this morning.

Union Jack share price this morning after announcement of a
proposed takeover by Reabold Resources

Statements to investors announced that discussions were underway for Reabold to acquire all Union Jack shares. (Reabold statement and Union Jack statement)

At the time of writing, shares in Union Jack were up 20%. Shares in Reabold were down 1.4%.

Union Jack said the Reabold offer was non-binding and had been made in a letter on 1 June 2026.

Union Jack added:

“The Board has evaluated the Proposed Transaction with its advisers and has provided due diligence access to Reabold. Discussions are ongoing and there can be no certainty that any offer will be forthcoming or proceed, nor as to the terms of any such offer.”

Reabold has until 5pm on 13 July 2026 to announce either a firm intention to make an offer for Union Jack or announce that it does not intend to make an offer.

Reabold said:

“Reabold believes that the combination of the two complementary companies would create a group with greater scale, superior access to capital and other compelling operating efficiencies.”

If the deal went through, Reabold would presumably acquire Union Jack’s 40% investment in Wressle in North Lincolnshire, the largest single stake in the oil field.

The deal would also increase Reabold’s interest in the West Newton oil and gas field in East Yorkshire. It already owns 79.8% of Rathlin Energy, the West Newton operator and has a 16.665% interest in the West Newton licence, PEDL183.

Union Jack has a 16.665% interest in West Newton. It also has a 55% stake in Keddington in Lincolnshire and interests in US drilling at five fields in Oklahoma.

Last week, Union Jack announced it had taken a £1m loan from Egdon Resources, the Wressle operator. Union Jack also revealed that a non-executive director, Graham Bull, had resigned. Mr Ball blamed the “detrimental effect attacks on the Board from certain media organisations” had on him and his family.

In annual accounts, published last month (May), Union Jack warned that government policy had made its UK business “increasingly difficult to progress”.

Earlier this month, the US investment firm, Crypto Cousins LLC, increased its interest in Reabold from 5.6% to 14.309%.

• Last week, UK Oil & Gas plc announced it was selling its stake in the Horse Hill field to energy B for £1m.

UK Oil & Gas is selling its stake in the troubled Horse Hill production site and licence, the company’s last remaining hydrocarbon interest.

Stephen Sanderson, chief executive of UK Oil & Gas plc. Photo: DrillOrDrop

The company announced in a statement today (12/6/26) it had agreed sell its entire 85.635% interest in Horse Hill and PEDL137 to energy B plc for £1m.

energy B, led by Neil Ritson, a former executive at Solo Oil and Leni Gas and Oil, has interests in bitcoins and wind turbines.

It said the deal was part of a wider strategy for energy B to “build a portfolio of oil and gas projects in the UK in support of UK energy security”. At the time of writing, energy B shares had risen more than 125%.

Today’s news coincides with the appointment of David Lenigas as energy B executive chairman. This will be his second direct involvement in Horse Hill.

Mothballed

Horse Hill, near Redhill in Surrey, has been suspended since October 2024 after the Supreme Court stripped planning permission five months earlier in a landmark climate ruling.

The court judgement, known as the Finch Ruling, was the culmination of six years of legal action against oil production at Horse Hill by Sarah Finch and the campaign network, Weald Action Group.

The site, once nicknamed the Gatwick Gusher, has not lived up to its operator’s predictions of North Sea levels of oil extraction.

In 2015, UKOG described the oil discovery at Horse Hill in Surrey as “world class” and that the Weald in southern England could produce 100 billion barrels of oil. It later issued two clarifications to the London Stock Exchange.

In the last full six months of production, Horse Hill recorded an average of 30 barrels of oil a day, according to official records. The UK’s biggest producing field, at Wytch Farm in Dorset, extracted an average of 9,802 barrels of oil a day over the same period.

UKOG’s move from oil and gas

Today’s announcement marks the end of UKOG’s current interest in hydrocarbon extraction.

In 2015, the company had direct interests in the Avington and Horndean oil fields in Hampshire, Baxter’s Copse and Markwells Wood in West Sussex, the Holmwood prospect in Surrey and an offshore licence near the Isle of Wight. It also had indirect interests in the Brockham oilfield in Surrey and the Lidsey field in West Sussex.

A year later, UKOG acquired the Broadford Bridge site in West Sussex and the PEDL234 licence straddling the border with Surrey. It was also awarded PEDL331 onshore on the Isle of Wight but failed to get planning permission for a proposed site at Arreton.

In 2019, UKOG revealed plans for a new site near Dunsfold in Surrey. It finally got planning permission in June 2022 after an appeal. But no work was carried out at the site and DrillOrDrop understands the planning permission has now expired.

In recent years, UKOG has switched its interest to hydrogen storage. Last month, the company reported declining assets and revenue. The most recent annual accounts confirmed that Horse Hill was then the company’s sole remaining oil and gas site.

Stephen Sanderson, UKOG’s chief executive, said today:

“Whilst the Company recognises that potentially material resources likely remain within HH [Horse Hill], this divestment presents a timely and attractive opportunity to complete UKOG’s exit from the UK onshore oil & gas sector, freeing our team and resources to focus upon our two material UK salt cavern energy storage projects and new international energy opportunities under active review.

“We wish energy B well in its future stewardship of Horse Hill and in realising its ambition to deliver the field’s full remaining potential.”

UKOG’s stake in Horse Hill is divided between subsidiaries.

It holds 77.9% of shares in the site operator, Horse Hill Developments Limited. UKOG (137/246) has a 35% working interest in Horse Hill.

At the time of writing, the UKOG share price was down 2.56%.

Executives return to Horse Hill

Both David Lenigas and Neil Ritson have had previous interests in Horse Hill.

Mr Lenigas was chairman of UK Oil and Gas Investments until July 2015. Four years later, he left Doriemus, which had a 4% stake in Horse Hill.

He said today:

“This is an incredibly exciting project and important for future of UK energy sovereignty. Not only is there a great deal of oil at Horse Hill, but there is also a lot of gas in this very live, shallow and extensive hydrocarbon system. That gas has historically been flared over the last decade, gas that could have been used to power or heat UK homes.

“The initial flow rates at Horse Hill were incredible but obstacles existed to fully assessing the true potential of the 500m thick oil-laden Kimmeridge limestones identified by some of the biggest independent oil consultancies in the world at the time.

“Only a few of the oil sequences in the Kimmeridge were tested in 2016 testing program. Time constraints limited the ability to test the Kimmeridge’s ultimate flow potential and less than 20% of the Kimmeridge interval was tested back in 2016.

“With the oil and gas window at Horse Hill being relatively shallow compared to the hydrocarbons in the North Sea, this project and many other onshore projects in the UK offer a highly credible solution to assist with the domestic energy crisis.

“Whilst many right now are vacating the oil and gas sector in the UK, we aim to go against the tide with energy B.”

Neil Ritson, chief executive of energy B, was chairman of Solo Oil when it had interests in Horse Hill, more than 10 years ago.

Solo Oil disposed of its stake in Horse Hill in 2018.

Mr Ritson said today:

“I am delighted to present shareholders of energy B with an opportunity to develop the Company as an onshore oil and gas participant, alongside the green energy technology being developed around the HFI patented wind turbine.

“The UK is on a path to net zero, however, we need to recognise that oil and gas will remain part of the energy mix for decades to come.  Importing foreign gas and oil; often with a much higher carbon footprint than indigenous supplies, is environmentally and economically unsound.

“We hope to bring Horse Hill back on to production as soon as possible and to develop its greater potential as a springboard.”

energy B said it was withdrawing from its Bitcoin treasury strategy. The company is listed on the UK’s Aquis Stock Exchange, which specialises in growth and entrepreneurial companies.

Deal details

energy B said it had entered into a share purchase agreement with UKOG for £1m. The deal gives energy B 100% of UKOG (137/246) and 77.9% of Horse Hill Developments Limited.

The purchase has been funded by an energy B share placing, which raised £1.2m. Some of the proceeds will be used to provide working capital, including payment of existing creditors, energy B said.

The agreement must be approved by the industry regulator and energy B’s shareholders.

Planning

UKOG announced more than a month ago that it had applied for planning permission to restart oil production at Horse Hill.

At the time of writing, Surrey County Council had still not published the application or begun a public consultation. DrillOrDrop understood this had been due this week. We will report when this happens.

At Broadford Bridge, another UKOG site where planning permission has lapsed, the company said it had plugged and abandoned the two wells. But the site has still not been restored to farmland, required b a condition of the permission. We continue to follow what happens at Broadford Bridge.

The company with the biggest stake in the Wressle oil field has agreed a £1m loan from the site operator, Egdon Resources.

Wressle oil field in North Lincolnshire. Photo: Egdon Resources

Union Jack Oil announced in a statement to investors this morning the loan would provide it with “additional working capital for general purposes”.

The statement said the loan was secured against Union Jack’s 40% stake in the Wressle licences, PEDL180 and PEDL182, in North Lincolnshire.

Union Jack has previously reported that it was debt free. At the time of writing, shares in the company had fallen 2.78%.

The Wressle well produced an average of 119 barrels of oil per day for Union Jack during 2025, according to annual accounts published last month. The average oil price at the time was US$68.2 per barrel.

Loan terms

Under the loan terms, Union Jack must pay 60% of its free cash flow generated from Wressle each month. This will first be applied to unpaid interest and then to reduce the loan principal.

If free cash flow from Wressle was insufficient, interest for that month would be capitalised and added to the loan balance.

The loan must be repaid in full after 24 months. The interest rate is 5% per year.

Restrictions

The agreement also requires Union Jack to support Egdon’s role as the Wressle operator. Union Jack cannot “vote or act to remove or replace the lender as operator (except in cases of gross misconduct”.

If Union Jack wants to sell its interest in the Wressle licences, Egdon now has the right of first refusal before any third parties are approached. This will last for 12 months after the repayment date.

The controversial shale gas site at Preston New Road in Lancashire must be returned to farmland by the end of the year, officials confirmed today (8 June 2026).

Preston New Road shale gas site. Photo: Maple Independent Media

Lancashire County Council said in a statement it had served an enforcement notice on Cuadrilla for the site near Blackpool.

The notice requires the removal all plant, buildings, security and acoustic fencing, pollution control membranes, aggregates and concrete hardstanding forming part of the drilling compound within four months.

The land must then be restored to a condition suitable for agriculture within six months of the notice.

The action follows the council’s refusal in December 2025 of Cuadrilla’s application for two more years to complete restoration work.

The statement said:

“the approved timetable for restoration was not met, resulting in unacceptable and unnecessary harm to the rural character of the area.”

Councillor Joshua Roberts, cabinet member for Rural Affairs, Environment and Communities, said:

“This situation has gone on for far too long.

“Local residents have had to live with this site for longer than they should have, and it is right that we have now taken firm action to bring this to a conclusion.

“It is positive that work is beginning to remove infrastructure from the site, but it is essential that the full restoration is completed within the required timeframe.

“We will not hesitate to take further steps if necessary.”

DrillOrDrop invited Cuadrilla to comment on the enforcement action. This article will be updated with any response.

Local reaction

The Preston New Road shale gas site has been widely opposed in the Fylde region of Lancashire and across the UK for more than a decade.

There were more than 18,000 formal objections to the proposal and petitions against it were signed by nearly 92,000 people.

During drilling and fracking, there were daily protests outside the site.

Susan Holliday, from Preston New Road Action Group, said today:

“There appears to have been very little activity at the site over the last twelve months so it is great that enforcement action is finally being taken.

“The time extension that Cuadrilla applied for, over 12 months ago and were refused, has been taken anyway due to procrastination.

“As a local community we just want the blot on our landscape gone and as soon as possible. It will be great if the site is restored to a green field by the end of this year at which point we will have had its presence for 10 years.”

Miranda Cox, from Frack Free Lancashire, said:

“Finally, some meaningful action from Lancashire County Council. We hope it also entails significant consequences for Cuadrilla. 

“For too long, their planning breaches and tardiness in compliance have been indulged. 

“We look forward to finally waving them goodbye. The damaging saga of Preston New Road may finally have an ending for our community.”

Delays and missed deadlines

Cuadrilla was required to restore Preston New Road by July 2023 under the terms of the original planning permission. It missed the deadline.

The company was granted a two-year extension until June 2025 but missed that deadline as well.

Work to plug and abandon the wells finally began in February 2025. Plant and equipment had been removed by November 2025.

But the hardcore that made up the drilling pad, the security and acoustic fencing and access road remained.

In July 2025, the company sought another two years, applying to delay restoration until 30 June 2027.

Cuadrilla said the extension was needed to complete 12 months of groundwater monitoring and environmental monitoring. This had to be completed before site restoration could begin, the company said.

But Lancashire County Council refused permission saying the extension would breach national and local planning policies, which sought to restore the site at the earliest opportunity.

Apart from site decommissioning, the Preston New Road has been mothballed since August 2019 when fracking caused multiple small earthquakes. These included the largest induced by fracking in the UK.

Updated: Lancashire County Council confirmed this morning that the enforcement notice had been served on Cuadrilla.

A lower-volume frack and well test at the West Newton-A oil and gas site in East Yorkshire could start within three months, the operator revealed today.

In an update, Rathlin Energy said the operations were due to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026.

West Newton-A site in Holderness, East Yorkshire. Photo: DrillOrDrop

But the start date depended on securing additional approvals and on equipment being available, the company said.

The lower-volume frack is also facing a legal challenge at the High Court from a local campaigner.

Before work can begin, passing places must be built on part of the lorry route to the site. This is expected to take four weeks, during which Pasture Lane would be closed.

Rathlin confirmed in the update that it was considering “near-term” plans to use gas from West Newton-A to generate electricity for what it called onsite “computer facilities”.

A major investor has previously said the gas would power bitcoin mining.

Rathlin has permission to generate electricity at West Newton-A but it would need planning permission for the computer facilities.

The update said stimulation modelling for the lower-volume frack had been completed, along with the design of a year-long extended well test (EWT).

Well completion and testing companies had been contacted to determine their availability, it added.

Rathlin said the 12-month extended well test was dependent on the success of the lower-volume frack.

The test would allow it to “assess the extent and performance of the reservoir, providing the essential data required before determining the most appropriate route for full field development”, the company said.

It added:

“Until the reservoir characteristics are fully understood, through an EWT, it is too early to determine the most suitable method for transporting gas to market.

“Rathlin has reviewed several potential options, including a pipeline connection to the National Transmission System or direct supply to local industrial users.”

The update also confirmed:

• Rathlin would establish a community benefit fund before work started
• A new work programme would allow the West Newton licence, PEDL183, to be retained in its current form until June 2030.

DrillOrDrop’s round-up of announcements from three companies with UK onshore oil and gas interests: investor raises stake, director resigns and refinancing continues.

West Newton oil and gas field.
Photo: West Newton and Sproatley Gateway to the Gasfields Reabold Resources – Crypto Cousins raises stake

Reabold Resources, the majority owner of the West Newton oil and gas field in East Yorkshire, announced this morning that a US investment company had increased its interest.

Rohan Oza, through Crypto Cousins, LLC, raised his investment in Reabold from 5.6% to 14.309% of voting rights.

A statement from Reabold said the share-owning threshold was crossed on 8 May 2026 and completed today (4 June 2026).

In March 2026, the company announced that Rohan Oza’s investment group had committed to buy 1,900 million ordinary shares.

Reabold said the funds raised from that share placing would be “used primarily to progress” the West Newton project. The operator, Rathlin Energy, has planning permission for lower-volume fracking on the West Newton A-2 well.

Reabold revealed last year that the West Newton sites, currently mothballed, could be used for bitcoin mining. It unveiled plans to use gas from the wells to generate electricity.

Reabold has also announced (3 June 2026) that it had granted exclusive rights to Zenith Energy plc to evaluate the potential acquisition of Reabold shares in Daybreak Oil and Gas.

Union Jack – director resignation

Union Jack Oil, another investor in West Newton, has announced the resignation of Graham Bull, a non-executive director.

A statement yesterday (3 June 2026) said:

“Mr Bull cited the detrimental effect attacks on the Board from certain media organisations has had on him and his family in his decision to resign.”

The statement did not name any media organisations.

Angus Energy – financial restructuring

Angus Energy, which operates the UK’s largest onshore gas site at Saltfleetby in Lincolnshire, announced today (4 June 2026) that it continued “to make good progress” on legal documents associated with its proposed financial restructuring.

The company has been refinancing its loan with the main creditors, including Trafigura and Forum Energy Services Limited.

The company said in a statement to shareholders:

 “Although progress to final binding agreements has been slower than anticipated, the Company is confident that the restructuring process will conclude in the coming weeks.”

“Upon execution, the proposed restructuring is expected to materially strengthen the Group’s balance sheet, enhance liquidity, and establish a more sustainable long-term capital structure.”

Share trading in Angus has been suspended since 19 May 2026. The company said trading would resume when the restructuring had been completed.

Angus also operates the Balcombe oil site in West Sussex. Planning permission for a well test at the site lapsed in February 2026. The company said it would reapply but no application has yet been published.

The company that gave up on oil operations in the protected landscape of the Lincolnshire Wolds is now trying to keep the abandoned well pad.

The Lincolnshire Wolds National Landscape at Biscathorpe.
Photo: SOS Biscathorpe

Egdon Resources has applied for planning permission to retain the former Biscathorpe oil compound near Louth, including hardstanding, surrounding earth mounds, security gates and fencing, access track and drain.

It said the site would be used by the landowner, F Wallis & Sons, for agricultural purposes.

Egdon said in a statement that Lincolnshire County Council planners had already “agreed in principle” to the proposal.

A public consultation is now underway. Comments must be submitted to Lincolnshire County Council by the end of this month (Tuesday 30 June 2026).

Egdon announced in December 2025 that it had abandoned an appeal against the refusal of planning permission for oil production and further drilling at Biscathorpe.

The company said in April 2026 it would be decommissioning the oil well at the site.

But this week news emerged about the new plans for Biscathorpe.

Egdon said retaining the well pad would avoid the need for 738 heavy goods vehicle movements over a period of 10 weeks.

But local opponents have said the application, if approved, would save Egdon the cost of restoring the site to farmland, required in a planning permission granted in 2018. It would also turn what had been described as a temporary operation into a permanent development.

Amanda Suddaby, of the local campaign group, SOS Biscathorpe, said:

“While it is unsurprising to us that Egdon would prefer to leave the infrastructure in place rather than incur the cost and effort of restoring the site, we don’t believe those commercial considerations should influence the planning decision.

“The proposal now before the Council risks turning what was presented as a temporary development into a permanent foothold in the landscape.

“Of principal concern is the fact that retaining the wellsite pad keeps alive the possibility of future oil and gas development at Biscathorpe should political, regulatory or commercial circumstances change.

“While no such proposal is currently before the Council, retaining the site would make future development proposals significantly easier.

“Once the site is fully restored, any future developer would need to start again and make an entirely new case for development whereas retaining the infrastructure leaves the door open and preserves a platform for future proposals.”

The Biscathorpe site is in the protected Lincolnshire Wolds National Landscape, the new name for areas of outstanding natural beauty.

A new law requires public bodies to “seek to further” the statutory purposes of Protected Landscapes” when considering planning applications.

Government advice said public bodies should seek to avoid harm and contribute to the conservation and enhancement of the natural beauty, special qualities and key characteristic of protected landscapes”.

Ms Suddaby said:

“For years local communities were assured that this development was temporary and that, once operations ended, the site would be restored to agricultural land. That promise was central to the original planning permission and seemed to offer a guarantee that the development would leave no lasting visual impact on the protected National Landscape.

“Additionally, retaining a substantial area of hardstanding in the National Landscape could encourage other forms of development that would not otherwise arise at this location. However, the over-riding issue is that infrastructure which was expressly permitted on a temporary basis is now being proposed for permanent retention.”

She also said:

“It is troubling that the planning documents state that the principle of retaining the site has already been agreed with County Council officers – even before public consultation.

“If commitments that were central to the original planning permission can be set aside in this way, local residents are entitled to ask what confidence they can ever place in planning conditions intended to protect landscapes and communities.

“This application is ultimately about trust. The original permission was granted on the basis that the development was temporary and the land would be fully restored. The time has come for those commitments to be honoured.”

SOS Biscathorpe is urging residents and supporters of the Lincolnshire Wolds National Landscape to object to the application and call for the site to be restored in accordance with the original planning permission.

The group said the decision on the application would test whether commitments made during the planning process could be relied upon when development proposals were approved.

At the time of writing, there were 12 objections to the new application.

In its supporting statement, Egdon said Nottinghamshire County Council had granted planning permission in 2025 for the retention of another former Egdon wellsite, at Kirklington, near Newark. Since then, Newark and Sherwood District Council have confirmed that two steel framed buildings could be installed on the site without planning permission. (The Kirklington site is not in a National Landscape.)

Egdon also said the Biscathorpe scheme would include planting a 940m2 of native hedgerow around the site area to increase biodiversity and provide visual screening to the fencing. The company said this would achieve the minimum 10% net gain for habitats and hedgerows required by law.

Other abandoned sites

Other recently abandoned oil and gas sites have still not been restored to farmland, as required by conditions in their original applications.

DrillOrDrop is monitoring progress to restore the Broadford Bridge oil site in West Sussex and the Preston New Road shale gas site in Lancashire.

At the Harlequin well site, Radcliffe-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, the site was turned into a dog exercise track after five planning permissions for exploration expired without a well being drilled.

The National Planning Policy Framework requires mineral planning authorities to “provide for restoration and aftercare at the earliest opportunity, to be carried out to high environmental standards, through the application of appropriate conditions”.

Former Harlequin pad, now covered in artificial grass and used as a dog exercise area.

Nearly twice as many Reform UK voters would back a solar farm in their area than support fracking, according to a new poll published today.

Gooseneck at Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road shale gas site, 5 August 2019. Photo: Ros Wills

The findings, for the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, are at odds with Reform’s national support for fracking.

The poll found that 43% of people who planned to vote Reform UK in this month’s local elections said they would back a solar farm as the best way to create energy locally.

This compared with 23% who said they would support fracking.

Among all voters, 60% said they would pick solar. Just 10% supported fracking.

Higher-volume fracking is currently prevented by a moratorium in England.

But Richard Tice, Reform UK’s energy spokesperson and deputy leader, has repeatedly called for a revival of fracking, particularly in Lincolnshire. He has also opposed renewable energy, including solar farms.

The party’s mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, Dame Andrea Jenkyns, has had talks with Egdon Resources, which wants to frack for shale gas in the Gainsborough Trough. Egdon is owned by the Texas-based oil and gas firm, Heyco Energy, which has used multi-stage hydraulic fracturing in the US Permian Basin.

Despite Reform UK’s national support for fracking, some of its local authorities have opposed the operation.

Lancashire’s Reform-led council said last year the countywas “not conducive” to fracking”. The Fylde region, near Blackpool, experienced experienced many small earthquakes caused by fracking by Cuadrilla at its Preston New Road site in 2018 and 2019.

Scarborough’s Reform-led town council unanimously opposed plans for lower-volume fracking in the North Yorkshire village of Burniston.

Alasdair Johnstone, of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said today:

“Reform’s pro-fracking, anti-solar stance appears not only at odds with broad public opinion, but also the opinion of their voters who would prefer a quiet solar farm over a noisy fracking pad in their area.

“That divergence is also playing out between the national level of the party and local councils some of which have said they don’t want fracking in their area.

“Public opposition aside, Reform would find it tough to emulate Trump’s pro-fracking push as British geology is very different to that in the US.

“Reform voters clearly back renewable energy which is helping to reduce the UK’s dependence on volatile gas markets and foreign imports.”

• Polling by More In Common was carried out from 21-27 April 2026 with 1,441 adults living in areas of England where there were local elections.

A Conservative-led council has urged the UK government to deliver its promise to ban fracking.

Photo: DrillOrDrop

East Riding of Yorkshire Council voted unanimously last month in favour of a motion opposing fracking in the county.

The motion focussed on plans for lower-volume fracking at Rathlin Energy’s West Newton-A oil and gas site in Holderness.

But it also included a resolution to write to the energy secretary, Ed Miliband.

In a letter sent this week, the council requested “progress and urgency for the legislation detailed in their [the Labour government’s] election manifesto to outlaw such high pressure and extreme procedures.”

The council also wrote to the oil and gas industry regulator, the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA). The letter said:

“the council wishes to place on record its view that proposals to authorise hydraulic fracturing or similar extreme extraction techniques beneath or near West Newton raise serious concerns.”

It added:

“This letter is intended to ensure that the Council’s opposition is clearly understood, formally recorded, and taken into account in the discharge of the NSTA’s statutory duties in relation to any proposals affecting the East Riding of Yorkshire.”

The letter urged the NSTA to carry out a “fully independent assessment of safety and risk” before granting consent for any form of high-pressure stimulation.

The assessment should be accompanied by “the publication and transparent scrutiny” of the hydraulic fracture plan (HFP), the council said. An HFP is a required document for any form of fracking in England. It is intended to describe how seismic events caused by fracking would be managed and minimised.

• The HFP for fracking plans at West Newton-A is part of a legal challenge brought by a local campaigner against the Environment Agency. More details here

Legal papers have been submitted to the High Court in a legal challenge against plans for lower-volume fracking at an oil and gas site in East Yorkshire.

Campaigners opposed to the West Newton oil and gas site in East Yorkshire.
Photo: West Newton Said No

The case, brought by local campaigner Peter Lomas, seeks to quash the Environment Agency’s decision to permit the operation at the West Newton-A site in Holderness.

The site operator, Rathlin Energy, plans to inject liquid and proppant into the West Newton-A2 well at pressures high enough to fracture surrounding rocks.

The operation is intended to make oil and gas flow more readily to the surface and allow the commercial exploitation of the well.

The A2 well is drilled through the chalk aquifer, which supplies water locally. The West Newton-A site is 882m from the Lambwath Meadows site of special scientific interest.

The case

The case papers set out Mr Lomas’s three main reasons for applying for a judicial review of the decision:

• The EA breached environmental permitting and water protection regulations by failing to recognise the prohibition of inputting hazardous substances into groundwater. The EA has admitted an error in law by stating there would be an “indirect input” into groundwater. In fact, there would be a direct input. As a result, there was insufficient information for the public to comment, making a consultation so unfair as to be unlawful.
• The EA breached its responsibilities on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, facilitating public participation and understanding the effects of proposed work on the climate.
• The EA erred in law by granting Rathlin’s request for a variation of its environmental permit to allow fracking, without first reviewing the Hydraulic Fracturing Plan (HFP). This is a required document that aims to manage the risk of seismic events caused by fracking. Rathlin submitted the HFP to the EA three hours after the decision to allow fracking had been issued.

Peter Lomas said today:

“As can be seen by the grounds of my challenge it’s important that I oppose this environmental permit variation as far as I can.

“The regulators need to be held accountable at all stages of the environmental and planning processes. Scrutiny is paramount, as is transparency throughout all processes.

“Playing with figures, percentages and confusing wording when it comes to the very real risk of our precious drinking water being compromised is not negotiable. The risk of seismic events is a reality, it’s not an untruth.

“We simply cannot sit by and do nothing about it in the hope that it will all go away. We must all act and that’s why I’m acting as an individual, in the hope of quashing this permit variation.

“I thank everyone so far that have helped me in realising my legal challenge, and I hope that this will be a catalyst for others to follow suit.”

Fracking using large volumes of liquid has, in effect, been banned in England by a moratorium, in force since 2019.

But lower-volume fracking, like that proposed at West Newton and at Burniston in North Yorkshire, is allowed.

Environmental campaigners have described this as a legal loophole and urged the government to ban all forms of fracking.

• The campaign group, West Newton Said No, has launched a crowdfunder to raise money for Mr Lomas’s legal fees. At the time of writing, it had raised more than £2,000 from 36 donations. The target is £20,000.

The campaign group behind a landmark legal judgement on carbon emissions has criticised official advice to government on the climate impact of onshore oil and gas.

Methane emissions from a UK onshore hydrocarbon site.
Photo: Clean Air Task Force

The Weald Action Group, which secured the 2024 Finch Ruling at the Supreme Court, said the Climate Change Committee (CCC) may have underestimated the climate risks from onshore petroleum operations in guidance to ministers.

The CCC is required by law to provide advice to the government every five years on how onshore petroleum extraction in England affects the UK’s ability to meet its climate targets.

Earlier this year, the CCC told the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, greenhouse gas emissions from conventional onshore petroleum production in England were “a small contributor to carbon budgets and Net Zero”. The CCC also assumed that emissions would decline as onshore sites matured and closed.

But the Weald Action Group (WAG) said in a response this week that the CCC’s assessment was “incomplete” and not “a robust basis” for determining whether onshore oil and gas operations were compatible with UK carbon budgets.

In a letter to the CCC chair, Nigel Topping, the group said this year’s advice “failed to reflect the current reality of the onshore petroleum sector”.

WAG also said the CCC relied on assumptions that were “inconsistent with observed industry activity and regulatory practice”.

The CCC did not appear to have taken into account new expansion plans by onshore operators, WAG said. It said the CCC’s conclusions contradicted previous support for tighter limits on oil and gas production and a presumption against further exploration.

WAG also suggested:

“the assessment used to inform the Committee’s advice is incomplete and therefore underestimates the climate risks from onshore oil and gas under current policy and regulation.”

Expansion plans

WAG identified eight proposals to expand onshore oil and gas in the UK.

The plans include four sites in North and East Yorkshire (Burniston, Foxholes, Ebberston Moor and West Newton), three in Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire (Wressle, Whisby and Glentworth) and one in Dorset (Waddock Cross).

WAG said a moratorium on further onshore petroleum development would be a “reasonable and logical position for the CCC to adopt”.

Regulatory failure

WAG also said the climate impact of onshore oil and gas was compounded by a failure of regulators to ensure disused wells – a source of methane emissions – were decommissioned in “a timely manner”.

WAG said:

“evidence from multiple UK onshore sites indicates that decommissioning is frequently delayed, increasing the likelihood of prolonged emissions from inactive or suspended wells”.

The group accused the onshore sector of deferring well abandonment and site restoration for as long as possible “due to financial constraints, a reluctance to incur costs where funds are available, or broader political and strategic ambition”.

WAG said this was abetted by a “laissez-faire approach” from the industry regulator, the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA).

The group said the NSTA had allowed Star Energy to schedule decommissioning of the South Leverton field in Nottinghamshire in 2028, even though production had stopped in 2020-2021.

WAG added that at Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road shale gas site in Lancashire, the NSTA extended the deadline for decommissioning wells beyond the expiry of planning permission.

“Questionable data”

WAG also said the CCC had relied data on methane emissions from upstream oil and gas activities recorded in the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI).

The group said:

“There is doubt over the reliability of using NAEI data to estimate the impact of the onshore sector on carbon budgets – particularly regarding methane emissions.”

The CCC relied upon a production emissions baseline based on what it admitted was “limited publicly available information”, WAG said.

It added that research in 2023 indicated that the NAEI data could be underestimating true methane emissions, particularly from onshore venting.

Europa Oil & Gas, the company behind rejected plans for lower-volume fracking at Burniston in North Yorkshire, is also pursuing developments at three other sites onshore in the UK, it revealed today.

Opposition to Europa’s plans at Burniston. Photo: DrillOrDrop

In company accounts, Europa predicted the sites – at Burniston and three in production in the midlands – would generate “a stable revenue base”.

Europa, which also has interests in Equatorial Guinea and offshore Ireland, is considering an appeal against last month’s refusal of its plans at Burniston (also known as Cloughton).

The company said:

“Europa is now assessing its options with a view to appealing the decision and is confident that on appeal the planning permission will be approved”.

It also confirmed it was still seeking a farm-in partner to carry out work at Burniston.

Bo Kroll, who became Europa’s executive chairman in February 2025, said:

“we are pursuing parallel workstreams across Wressle, Cloughton [Burniston], Crosby Warren and West Firsby, each offering meaningful value creation and collectively providing a stable revenue base from which to pursue the development of our wider portfolio.”

He also said:

“Our onshore UK portfolio continues to deliver steady operational progress across each of our producing and development assets and underpins our efforts to advance the development of our other high-potential assets.

“We also see significant opportunities for growth in our onshore UK assets, with the current macroeconomic climate emphasising the importance of reliable, domestic energy supplies.”

At Wressle, in North Lincolnshire, where Europa has a 30% stake, there are plans for two new wells, lower-volume fracking, a gas pipeline and 15 years of production. A climate impact assessment of the plans has been published online.

The accounts said production at Wressle generated an average of 84 barrels of oil per day (bopd) for Europa, from a total average of 281 barrels per day.

At Crosby Warren, also in North Lincolnshire, Europa announced last year it was looking to “optimise production”. The company, which has a 100% stake in the oil field, said Crosby Warren’s existing production could be “significantly increased through a simple workover programme that is currently being considered”.

The fourth site, at West Firsby, in Lincolnshire, has seen an extension of the licence, DL003, for another five years.

Today’s accounts said:

“This extension provides operational continuity and the long-term framework within which to optimise and maximise the value of this producing field.”

Revenue

The accounts also gave details of Europa’s revenue by site:

• Wressle £2,412,000
• Crosby Warren: £923,000
• West Firsby: £346,000
• Whisby: £15,000

Accounting period

The accounts covered 17 months from 1 August 2024 to 31 December 2025. This followed a decision to move the end of year date from 31 July to 31 December.

Since the end of the new accounting period, Europa raised £4.1m, of which £3.5m was through the placing of new ordinary shares to institutional investors. The money would be spent on drilling Barracuda prospect in Equatorial Guinea and for general working capital, the accounts said.

Key figures for 17 months to 31 December 2025

Revenue: £3.9m, of which £3.566m was from the UK. (12 months to 31 July 2024: £3.6m)

Cost of sales: £3.293m, all from UK operations. (12 months to 31 July 2024: £3.117m)

Impairment of producing fields: £323,000 (12 months to 31 July 2024: £189,000

Gross profit: £0.3m (12 months to 31 July 2024: £0.3m)

Admin expenses: £2.4m (12 months to 31 July 2024: £1.9m)

Pre-tax loss: £2.7m (12 months to 31 July 2024: £6.8m)

Loss for the period: £2.737m (12 months to 31 July 2024: £6.781m)

Total comprehensive loss for the period: £2.842m (12 months to 31 July 2024: £6.798m)

Total assets: £7.545m, of which £2.68m are for UK assets.(12 months to 31 July 2024: £9.779)

Total liabilities: £6.422m, of which all are for UK operations. (12 months to 31 July 2024: £6m),

Net assets: £1.123m (12 months to 31 July 2024: £3.779m)

Cash balance at 31 December 2025: £0.3m (31 July 2024: £1.5m)

Total directors’ payments: £1.024m, of which £675,000 was for William Holland, the chief executive

Staff costs: £1.853m (12 months to 31 July 2024: £1.149m)

An investor in the Wressle and West Newton fields warned today that government policy has made its UK business “increasingly difficult to progress”.

In annual accounts, Union Jack Oil blamed successive governments for:

“complex planning, regulatory burden and high taxation, resulting in unpredictable approval timeframes bringing additional uncertainty, significant cash costs and lost opportunities”.

Union Jack’s executive chairman, David Bramhill, said:

“the cost of maintaining a number of our non-producing UK licence interests has become increasingly difficult to justify regardless of their potential future value”.

The company, which recently invested in the US, gave up interests in 2025 at Biscathorpe and North Kelsey in Lincolnshire and at Dukes Wood and Kirklington in Nottinghamshire, the accounts said. They added that Union Jack was also in the process of relinquishing its stake in the Laughton licence in Lincolnshire.

Mr Bramhill said:

“During the remainder of 2026 and beyond, the Company intends to continue to review the merits of its UK non-production licence interests while prioritising asset allocation in favour of growing its hydrocarbon exploration, development and production enterprise in Oklahoma.”

The accounts also said Union Jack “believes investors will only wish to provide finance to companies and projects that support a transition to a low-carbon economy. As part of the Company’s ongoing strategy in respect of the environment, Union Jack commits to be totally transparent in respect of its projects and on how its carbon management practice is implemented”.

Union Jack said it remained focussed on interests at the Wressle oil site, in North Lincolnshire, where the operator has just published estimates on emissions resulting from a proposed site expansion.

The Wressle development would “support the company with revenues for at least another decade”, Union Jack said.

The company said it also continued to invest in the oil site at Keddington in Lincolnshire, where production resumed in mid-2025 after site upgrades. Planning consent is already in place for a sidetrack to one of the existing wells. The location has been finalised and the well would be drilled “when the operator deems appropriate”, Union Jack said.

At West Newton, in East Yorkshire, Union Jack said the partners had been “evaluating ways of generating additional value through early production schemes, ahead of any longer-term full gas field development”.

Last year, one of the investors at West Newton proposed using the sites for cryptocurrency mining.

Earlier this year, the Environment Agency approved plans for lower-volume fracking at West Newton. The approval is being challenged by a local campaigner (details here and here), whose crowdfunder has so far raised more than £1,800.

Key figures for year ending 31 December 2025

Gross profit: £691,001 (2024: £1,968,101)

Net loss (including impairment of Biscathorpe and North Kelsey): £7,029,350 (2024: £649,213)

Basic loss per share: 5.68p (2024: 0.61p earnings)

Admin expenses (excluding impairment): £2,477,222 (2024: £1,878,089)

Total assets: £19,083,850 (2024: £23,846,105)

Total liabilities: £2,251,878 (2024: £1,975,354)

Net assets: £16,831,972 (2024: £21,870,751)

Net current assets: £1,365,622 (2024: £3,172,066)

Expansion of the Wressle oil site near Scunthorpe would result in more than one million tonnes of climate-damaging greenhouse gases, documents have revealed.

But the developer, Egdon Resources, has said the proposal would not have a significant impact on climate change.

Well trajectories (proposed in red and existing in green) from the Wressle oil site.
Source: Egdon Resources application

The expansion would produce an estimated extra 1 million+ barrels of oil over 15 years. Gas produced alongside the oil would be an additional 5.264 billion cubic feet.

The figures were published in a new assessment of the climate impact of the plans.

Egdon first submitted the proposal in March 2024 for two new wells, lower-volume fracking, 15 years of production and a 600m gas pipeline.

An approval by officials at North Lincolnshire Council in September 2024 was quashed in a legal case brought by a local campaigner.

This followed the landmark Finch ruling at the Supreme Court, which required decisionmakers to take account of the greenhouse gas emissions from the use of onshore oil or gas production.

Egdon had previously said the plans did not need a detailed environmental impact assessment (EIA).

But the company agreed earlier this year to voluntarily submit a slimmed-down version of an EIA, looking at just climate change, socio-economic impacts and cumulative effects.

Emissions estimates

Egdon’s consultants, Bureau Veritas, has estimated that at worst the greenhouse gases from the project would amount to 1,007,731 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e).

More than 90% of the total, 917,999 tCO2e, would be from burning the oil and gas produced at the site, known as scope 3 category 11 emissions.

The remaining emissions, mainly from the production process, are estimated to total 89,732 tCO2e.

The climate assessment said:

“Overall, the Proposed Development is not expected to result in significant adverse effects on climate change, and the assessment demonstrates that emissions and climate risks have been considered in a proportionate and robust manner, consistent with relevant guidance and best practice.”

On the scope 3 category 11 greenhouse gases, the assessment said:

“While these emissions represent a very small proportion of global emissions, it is recognised that climate change is highly sensitive to cumulative emissions.

“Taking into account the global and downstream nature of these emissions, their lack of direct control at the project level, and their consistency with broader decarbonisation pathways, the effect is … considered to be minor adverse overall.”

The assessment estimated that at peak annual production, the scope 3 category 11 emissions would represent, at worst, 0.00033% of the remaining global carbon budget.

This would indicate a moderate adverse effect, the assessment said. But it concluded that the effect was “minor adverse when viewed in the context of global mitigation trajectories”.

The scope 1 and 2 emissions and scope 3 excluding category 11, were also considered to be “minor adverse following mitigation”.

These emissions, compared with UK carbon budgets) ranged from 0.0009% (seventh budget) TO 0.002% (sixth budget).

Other assessments

An updated ecological impact assessment on the Wressle plans said there would be no significant impacts on air quality affecting internationally-important wildlife sites on the Humber Estuary.

It also said there would be no “significant adverse effects” on sites of special scientific interest at Broughton Far Wood, 210m away from the well site, and Broughton Alder Wood, 600m away.

The socio-economic impact assessment concluded there would be “moderate to major beneficial effects” for employment and economic performance in civil engineering, mining and quarrying industries.

On cumulative effects, the assessment said:

“No long term significant effects identified and no greater [impacts] than for the proposed development in isolation”.

Public consultation

People and organisations can now comment on the new documents, either online (go to bottom of application webpage and click submit comment button), by email to planning@northlincs.gov.uk or in writing to the Development Management team, North Lincolnshire Council, Church Square House, 30-40 High Street, Scunthorpe, DN15 6NL, quoting PA/2024/275.

The application’s website lists the closing date for the consultation as 30 June 2026.

DrillOrDrop will report on reaction to Egdon’s climate and other assessments.