The developer of the Horse Hill oil and gas project has halted oil extraction, four months after the Supreme Court quashed the building permit.

Surrey County Council has granted planning permission for four new oil wells and 20 years of oil production at Horse Hill in 2019.

However, following legal action bought by local resident Sarah Finch on behalf of the Weald Action Group and supported by Friends of the Earth, the Supreme Court ruled that the council had acted illegally in granting permission without considering climate impacts when oil is inevitably burned.

Not allowed

This canceled planning permission, meaning the council will have to make a new decision about the site.

And yet data Industry regulator the North Sea Transition Authority revealed the Horse Hill site produced 138 tonnes of oil in July 2024, at a rate of 33 barrels per day, meaning it operated without authorization.

Extinction Rebellion campaigners blocked the entrance to the site in Horley, Surrey, to protest against the company’s continued extraction of fossil fuels in breach of the ruling.

On October 22, the lawyers of FoE has written to Surrey County Councilurging it to take immediate enforcement action against unauthorized drilling within a week.

He warned that failure to enforce unauthorized oil drilling was illegal under the law. a legal opinion by leading planning and environmental lawyers James Maurici KC and Toby Fisher last year in connection with unauthorized coal mining at the Ffos-y-Fran site in the South Country of Wales.

Compliance

Responding to the drilling halt announcement, Niall Toru, solicitor at FoE, said: “We are pleased that the developer of the Horse Hill project has finally suspended oil drilling at the site. This is largely due to the tireless efforts of local activists who have kept up the pressure against the development after many years of campaigning.

However, the fact that the drilling went unmonitored for four months raises “serious questions” for Surrey County Council, he said.

In a statement, UK Oil and Gas confirmed it had asked HHDL to suspend oil production at Horse Hill from Friday October 25. He added that he had been in contact with Surrey County Council since the day of the Supreme Court ruling regarding the status of the site.

Representatives from Surrey County Council visited the site on October 16 and other regulators were kept informed, the statement added.

“It should be noted that the decision of the Supreme Court is not the result of any action, error or omission on the part of the company or its subsidiary HHDL, and that HHDL acted as a responsible operator and in full regulatory compliance during six years of production planning. consent,” he said.

Application

A detailed plan for the complete suspension of operations and related activities, including emptying and cleaning of storage tanks, flow lines and other processing equipment, will be implemented after agreement with the council, he said. -he indicated.

HHDL was still considering reapplying for planning permission on the site, he added.

In a statement, Surrey County Council said it was pleased that commercial oil production at the site had ceased.

“However, discussions remain ongoing regarding the full suspension of the site and, as such, the county’s planning enforcement investigation remains ongoing,” he added.

This author

Catherine Early is an independent environmental journalist and chief reporter for The Ecologist. She tweets at @Cat_Early76.