A planning tussle over UK Oil & Gas PLC (AIM:UKOG)'s Gatwick Gusher will be heard in the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Activists concerned over the environmental impact of the Horse Hill operation are hoping to block a planning approval granted by Surrey County Council.
They claim councillors failed to take into account the carbon emission from the consumption of Horse Hill's oil and gas, putting them at odds with the UK's commitments to reach net zero by 2050.
In an article in the Sunday Times, UKOG chief executive, Stephen Sanderson, defended the company's position, comparing its situation to a supermarket being held accountable for a customer's emissions from cooking its products.
UKOG garnered considerable attention back in 2015 after discovering an oil deposit potentially holding up to 100 billion barrels of crude oil.
Sanderson in his interview with the Sunday Times said the Gatwick Gusher, named because of its proximity to Britain's second-largest airport, was a “modest-sized onshore oil and gas field”.
It is “capable of producing a decent amount”, he told the paper but will require more investment.
Estimates suggest Horse Hill is turning out just 50 barrels of crude a day.