The company behind the long-delayed oil extraction project at Horse Hill in Surrey has sold the site at a significant loss and shifted its focus toward clean energy initiatives, while the new owners have resumed efforts to secure drilling permission. UK Oil and Gas (UKOG), which spent over a decade developing the site and invested more than £25 million, sold the Horse Hill licence area for approximately £1 million—markedly below its peak valuation of £46 million in 2018. Following the sale, UKOG rebranded as UK Energy Group and announced plans to pursue clean energy projects such as hydrogen storage and salt-cavern energy storage in southern and eastern England.

Horse Hill gained prominence after a 2024 Supreme Court ruling, now known as the Finch Ruling, overturned a local council decision allowing project expansion. The court held that planning authorities must consider the indirect downstream greenhouse gas emissions of oil and gas projects as part of environmental impact assessments. UKOG had previously claimed that the oilfield contained an estimated 100 billion barrels of oil, with subsets in tight Jurassic shale and conventional reservoirs.

The new owner, Energy B, now controls Horse Hill Developments Ltd and submitted a renewed application to Surrey County Council in May to drill four production wells, establish a new oil processing facility, install tanker-loading infrastructure, and operate a fluid reinjection well. The project proposal estimates the extraction of nearly 700,000 tonnes of oil over a 20-year period. Energy B has emphasized the potential for improved energy security by reducing reliance on imports, stating confidence in meeting all legal and environmental requirements, and highlighting economic benefits from domestic refining and gas supply.

However, the project has met with substantial criticism from environmental campaigners and experts. Sarah Finch, who initiated the legal challenge leading to the Supreme Court decision, raised concerns about the environmental assessment submitted with the new planning application. Finch argued that the assessment fails to adequately account for cumulative greenhouse gas emissions alongside other existing and approved fossil fuel projects, a requirement she said is underscored by recent government and international guidance. The application itself estimates total emissions of approximately 2.3 million tonnes of greenhouse gases over the lifecycle of the project, but concludes these impacts are “insignificant,” citing Horse Hill’s contribution as about 0.05% of the UK’s carbon budget.

Finch contests this characterization as misleading, stating that any additional fossil fuel emissions are significant and would conflict with the International Energy Agency’s stance that no new oil or gas development is compatible with the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C. She also questions the assertion that locally produced oil would directly enhance UK energy security, noting that oil is generally traded on international markets rather than guaranteed for domestic consumption.

Surrey County Council concluded its formal public consultation on the latest planning application in mid-July but has stated it will consider further submissions before reaching a decision, which is expected soon. Should the council approve the development, Finch’s group, the Weald Action Group, has indicated it may pursue additional legal challenges, citing concerns that the environmental statement does not comply with statutory requirements and guidance.

UK Energy Group and UKOG declined to comment on the ongoing application and related legal matters. The fate of the Horse Hill project is increasingly seen as a significant test case for how climate-related risks from fossil fuel projects are addressed in UK planning decisions following the landmark Supreme Court ruling.