UKOG's Gatwick oil project on hold as company awaits regulatory approval

UK Oil and Gas Investments (UKOG) has been stopped from drilling oil at Horse Hill, near Gatwick, The Telegraph reported late Tuesday.

The project has been suspended since the company has not directly applied to the regulator, the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA), for permission to begin flow testing the Horse Hill-1 well in the Weald Basin.

UKOG has local planning permission and a licence for the site but drilling would still require formal approval from the newly established OGA before any flow testing operations would be allowed.

The news comes after UKOG announced that planning permission to proceed at Horse Hill was in place and that it had “already submitted the applications to the authorities for their consent” to conduct a flow test of the well.

UKOG's shares had dropped 10.1% to 2.56p by 10:45 on Wednesday.

Partners in the project include small-cap peers Solo Oil, Evocutis, Stellar Resources, Alba Mineral Resources and Doriemus.