UK Oil & Gas Investments PLC have commented that the Weald Basin’s oil reserves could make a ‘very significant’ contribution to the economy in the United Kingdom.
Oil production in Southern England has the potential to add billions of pounds to the economy and go some way to offsetting the decline that is currently being seen in North Sea oil production, according to a recently released report.
The study, which was commissioned by UKOG, which is the company behind the plot to extract oil from the Weald Basin in Gatwick, was carried out by consultants EY.
The report claimed that oil production in the area could bring about between £7bn and £52bn in revenue over a period of four decades.
In order to achieve this, however, thousands of oil wells may have to be drilled in as many as 100 locations in the South, and many of the jobs created by the venture would come from outside of the region.
UKOG is currently exploring a site at Horse Hill in Surrey, which is located just three miles away from Gatwick Airport. The company is focusing on Kimmeridge Clay – a geological formation that stretches across a large portion of the Weald.
Last year, the company’s chief executive, when speaking to the BBC, revealed that there could be as much as 100 billion barrels’ worth of oil located in the Weald. If this proves to be true, it could be a boon not only for the UK, but for oil companies like Royal Dutch Shell, which could make use of it in products like Shell Tellus S2 M 32.
