UK Oil & Gas signs agreement to lease for Dorset gas storage

UK Oil & Gas announced on Monday that its wholly-owned subsidiary UK Energy Storage (UKEn) has signed an agreement to lease with Portland Port, covering two sites at the former Royal Navy port in Dorset.

The AIM-traded firm said it intended to develop, subject to new planning consent and securing necessary development finance, a planned integrated energy hub, centred around hydrogen-ready gas storage and a future green hydrogen generation capability.

As agreed between the parties, UKOG said UKEn's planned development concept would “reinvigorate and build further upon” a prior unrealised project by Portland Gas Storage, which was granted planning consent by Dorset County Council in 2008, to situate around 43 billion subic feet of underground salt cavern storage beneath Portlant Port’s land.

“It's hard to recall a time in recent history in which the critical importance of energy security and the resilience of the UK energy system has been so much in the public and governmental eye,” said chief executive Stephen Sanderson.

“UKOG is therefore delighted to announce the intention to develop an infrastructure project, fully in keeping with the government's new British Energy Security and Hydrogen Strategies and National Grid's 2021 Future Energy Scenarios, that could both materially strengthen the UK energy system's resilience to supply and demand shocks, plus provide the foundations for a potentially significant and strategic element of the future green hydrogen economy.”

At 1539 BST, shares in UK Oil & Gas were up 3.75% at 0.13p.

Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com.