UK Oil & Gas PLC (AIM:UKOG) (UK Oil & Gas PLC (AIM:UKOG)) has been approved for a two-year planning extension at the Broadford Bridge project in Sussex.
The extension of the project, host to a discovery in the potentially significant Kimmeridge oil play, was approved with a 7 to 2 majority vote at the West Sussex County Council.
UKOG shares gained 7.5% in Friday’s early deals to change hands at 0.13p each.
The extension provides UKOG with an additional two years for “any learnings” from drilling at either or both the nearby Loxley conventional gas and Horse hill oil fields to be factored into the company’s plans for Broadford Bridge.
Presently, UKOG is awaiting a final decision on its appeal against Surrey County Council's refusal of planning consent for the Loxley gas project by Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. According to latest advice from the UK Planning Inspectorate, the company is expecting Gove’s decision on or before June 7.
UKOG added that the approval potentially allows for the inclusion of provisions for ‘green energy’.
“The extension will also permit conceptual plans for the supply of heat energy from BB to a possible new large scale greenhouse end-user to be further developed. The early-stage concept includes use of the BB drilling pad to site several new stand-alone deep geothermal wells,” it said.