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Steep rises in the price of oil have brought a local authority centre stage in a £12bn exploration bid. West Sussex CC has overridden protests by environmental campaigners and a district council, to support plans by an oil company to increase its drilling operation in an ancient woodland, in order to secure energy supply. Providence Energy is set to bring four further wells into production to meet demand at its site in Singleton, which already has six drills in operation. Another company, Northern Petroleum has also been granted temporary three-year consent to test for oil at a site near Chichester. The arrival of the oil industry is due to the fact that a 70-mile wide deposit lies deep under the ground between Poole in Dorset and Chichester in West Sussex. Northern Petroleum has estimated up to 200m barrels could be yielded – the equivalent of a large discovery in the North Sea. The steep global rise in the price of oil and dwindling supplies mean small-scale drilling is now very profitable. West Sussex CC used national economic interest as a reason to back the planning application by Providence, despite fierce arguments from environmentalists and objections from Chichester DC. The council made clear it supported the oil industry, as development was in the national interest: ‘There is a clear and overriding need for oil exploration. The development accords with National Minerals Policy and the Development Plan Policies of the county council which aim to promote competitive markets in the UK and beyond,' it said. ‘Development will maximise the potential of the UK's conventional oil and gas reserves in an environmentally-acceptable manner, and, maintain the reliability of energy supplies.'

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BUSINESS

West Sussex goes drillling for oil to beat energy hike

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