Europa Wins Appeal over Surrey Hills Drill Site

Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc, the AIM quoted oil and gas company with a combination of producing and exploration assets in Europe informed that the Planning Inspectorate has allowed Europa’s appeal against Surrey County Council’s decision not to grant permission to drill one exploratory borehole and undertake a short term test for hydrocarbons at the Holmwood prospect (‘Holmwood’) in the PEDL143 licence in the Weald Basin, Surrey.

Europa holds a 40% interest in PEDL 143, which contains the conventional Holmwood prospect, alongside Egdon Resources (18.4%), Altwood Petroleum (1.6%), Warwick Energy (20%) and UK Oil & Gas Investments (20% subject to completion of farm-in).
 
The Holmwood prospect is to be drilled as a deviated exploration well and a further planning application for the underground well path was submitted to Surrey County Council on 14 May 2014. It is understood that Surrey County Council will make a decision on this application now that the Planning Inspectorate has issued its decision on the planning appeal.  Europa and its partners will wait until Surrey County Council makes its decision on the underground well path before considering next steps on this licence.
 
An application for planning permission to drill the Holmwood prospect on PEDL143 was submitted in 2008 and was dismissed by Surrey County Council in 2011. A planning appeal in 2012 was dismissed by the Planning Inspectorate. Europa successfully challenged this decision in the High Court in 2013.  In 2014 the Court of Appeal upheld the 2013 High Court judgment in the Company’s favour and a second planning appeal was heard at an eight day public inquiry in April and June 2015. The Planning Inspectorate issued a decision to allow the appeal on 7 August 2015.
 
CEO Hugh Mackay said “We are pleased with the Planning Inspector’s decision. With mean gross un-risked prospective resources of 5.6 million barrels of oil, as estimated in a CPR published in June 2012, and a one in three chance of success, we regard Holmwood as one of the best undrilled conventional prospects in onshore UK and we await Surrey County Council’s decision on the underground well path with interest.“