Restored sites

Laughton

In February 2015 we began work on the construction of a wellsite just outside Laughton, near Gainsborough, in line with the planning permission granted by Lincolnshire County Council in 2013 for a conventional oil exploration well.

Throughout, we listened to the concerns of the local community and, as a result, set up HGV restrictions so that any vehicles coming on site would not be able to come through the village. We also set up time restrictions on our operations to minimise the noise impact on local people.

The local parish council were very involved in the process and helped us to organise site visits for local people and community information events.

The well was drilled to a depth of1,700m in March 2016. (similar to the Corringham producing oil field a few miles to the south east). Results from drilling were disappointing, however, and we decided not to take the Laughton site forward and the site was restored in August 2016.

All the equipment was removed from the site and it was returned to its former use as agricultural land.

Burton on the Wolds

In 2014 Egdon built a new wellsite near to Burton on the Wolds in Leicestershire. A well was drilled during October 2014, which did not encounter sufficient hydrocarbons to facilitate a test programme. The well was plugged and sealed in line with regulatory requirements at the end of the drilling operation.

In 2015, the Burton on the Wolds wellsite was restored back to agricultural use, to the satisfaction of the landowner and of Leicestershire County Council Planning Authority.

Westerdale

The Westerdale-1 well was drilled to a total depth of 1305 metres in 2006. Following testing of two zones which produced gas to surface the well was deemed a non-commercial discovery and the well was plugged and sealed in line with regulatory requirements and the site restored to farmland during 2007.

Burton Agnes

The Burton Agnes-1 well was drilled to a total depth of 2290 metres in late 2007. The well did not encounter commercial hydrocarbons and was suspended as potential side-track donor well until 2011 when the well was was plugged and sealed in line with regulatory requirements and the site restored to agricultural land.

Dukes Wood / Kirklington

The Dukes Wood and Kirklington sites are in the East Midlands near to Newark in Nottinghamshire. The Kirklington oilfiled was originally drilled by BP and Egdon acquired the site in 2008. A sidetrack well was drilled in 2010, in tandem with a new well on the nearby newly-built Dukes Wood site in the same year. The Dukes Wood site is adjacent to the Dukes Wood oilfield, which was originally drilled during the Second World War and was, for some time, the largest onshore production field in Britain. The sites were intended to operate as one joint production unit, but were jointly suspended after a period in production due to high water volumes.

The Kirklington well has now been plugged and the site is due for restoration during 2024/25. The Dukes Wood well has been plugged back and is due to be recompleted for geothermal testing during 2024 to determine if it can be used for geothermal heat recovery.