By Isle of Wight Observer
A UK-based oil and gas exploration and production company have announced that plans to start drilling in the Arreton area have been delayed by another year.
In 2015, UKOG claimed there were 100 million barrels of ‘drill ready’ oil under or off the Isle of Wight. Since 2016, UK Oil and Gas (UKOG), have set their sights on drilling but each year there has been delays. The latest statement to the stock exchange news service claimed that planning applications for drilling in the Arreton area will now be submitted in the first quarter of this year.
In January last year UK Oil and Gas gave up the licence for oil exploration off the coast of Compton after setting their sights on drilling in Arreton from early this year.
Frack Free Isle of Wight, a campaign group against fracking on the Island, recently requested details of the drilling sites in Arreton via a Freedom of Information request but was declined by the Isle of Wight Council on the grounds of the information requested being ‘commercially sensitive’.
