Environmental campaigners have warned that over 71,000 hectares of protected countryside, including national park land, in south-east England are at risk from a new wave of oil drilling. A mapping analysis has found that the protected areas overlap with oil and gas exploration licences awarded by the Government across an area stretching from the Surrey Hills in the east to the Isle of Wight in the west.
One of the most promising oil wells is the Horse Hill site near Crawley, which has been dubbed the 'Gatwick Gusher' after encouraging initial tests by UK Oil & Gas Investments PLC (UKOG). UKOG’s licences for the Horse Hill work included protected areas known as sites of special scientific interest, however, the company claimed it did not plan to drill in protected areas and was fully aware of their sensitivity.
While high-profile efforts to frack in the north of England and the Midlands have been stalled, several companies are preparing to drill conventional onshore wells later this year in the South. Campaigners in Surrey are preparing to deliver a petition with more than 100,000 signatures against plans for an oil well at Holmwood, south of Dorking.
Although these plans do not involve fracking, in some cases a technique known as acidisation will be used. This involves putting diluted hydrochloric acid down a well to dissolve limestone, releasing the oil trapped within, as well as oil within adjacent shale formations.
Greenpeace UK head of energy Hannah Martin said: "Energy firms have got their eyes on the shale oil buried under some of the best-loved nature sites in the south-east. Fracking operations are banned within these sensitive areas, but the industry is now planning to get the oil out by pumping acid into the ground."
