Local council blocks work at Isle of Wight find

London-listed UK Oil & Gas (UKOG) has been refused permission by the Isle of Wight council's planning committee for appraisal and testing work at the Arreton oil and gas discovery, the company said on October 20.

According to UKOG, the council's planning officers had previously recommended approving the project. The company "will now consider its position and whether to lodge an appeal with the planning inspectorate," it said.

The company said it had taken "considerable care and undertook much research" to limit the impact of work at the A-3 well site, choosing a location some 300 m from the A3056 road and next to an anaerobic digestion power plant and the Blackwater quarry.

"No objections to the development were raised by statutory consultees on environmental, drinking water, landscape or health and safety grounds," UKOG said.

"This decision underscores UKOG's change of focus over the past year towards the international arena for oil and gas, plus its new direction into geothermal and hydrogen-based energy in the UK," CEO Stephen Sanderson said in a statement. "In accordance with the Company's stated growth strategy, plans and evaluations are reasonably advanced in several new projects designed to grow the Company in these new areas."