Brockham News!

We have some very important news to share: last Friday Angus Energy announced that “it is extremely unlikely that commercial hydrocarbon flow can be established from the Kimmeridge layer at Brockham” and that they have entered into discussions to sell their 65% interest in the Brockham license to an unnamed third party. The news slashed Angus’s share price by 60% in a single day. It came as a huge surprise not only to us, but also the investor community, who were expecting Angus to continue with the well tests commencing in the week of 17 June, as per the published regulatory news release two weeks prior.

Angus also clarified that the Kimmeridge would not flow “on any conventional approach” and that they ruled out the use of stimulation techniques including hydraulic fracturing (because Angus Energy is a non-fracking company, i.e. they don’t have the expertise or the financial resources to frack successfully), in effect confirming what Professor David Smythe, BOW and others have been saying all along – that it will not be possible to commercially produce from the Kimmeridge without hydraulic fracturing or acid stimulation.

This means that there’s still a danger that Angus will sell the Brockham operatorship and their 65% interest in the license to a company who will want to frack. We will be watching developments closely.

In the meantime, we’d like to thank all those who have been keeping a watchful eye on the actions of Angus Energy at Brockham, and helping to maintain pressure on the regulators to make sure the site is monitored closely. We can say with certainly that the scrutiny by regular people made a difference.

Earthquakes Meeting

Over 150 people, including a number of local councillors, attended a public meeting on earthquakes and unconventional drilling in the Weald Basin we held last month at Beare Green Village Hall.

David K Smythe, Emeritus Professor of Geophysics in the University of Glasgow, delivered the main talk, covering the history of oil & gas exploration in the Weald between 1960-90 versus the current phase led by penny-share companies of questionable competence and integrity, the reasons why he supports the Edinburgh University thesis that the Newdigate earthquakes are induced by activity at the Horse Hill site, and recommendations for local residents as well as their elected representatives.

To watch the recording/ see slides, go here.

On a related note, we created a page dedicated to the Newdigate earthquakes and a page tracking related news, where you can catch up on what happened so far.

More on Horse Hill

The meeting to decide on the significant expansion proposals at Horse Hill has been postponed yet again, and it is currently planned for 11^th September 2019. This application received over 1,000 objections. Although the official consultation has now ended, you can still comment to the council (here are some helpful links).

And more..

We also want to share this recent story about a breach of blowout preventer safety laws at Horse Hill. Blowouts pose risk to life for well workers, and can have profound consequences for the environment and wildlife. Please share this story with anyone concerned.