Wressle wrestle continues as planning inspectors reject Egdon's appeal

Egdon's existing planning for the well will be allowed to stand, however, until 28 April 2018, even though North Lincolnshire County Council had tried to block this too.

Egdon managing director Mark Abbott expressed his disappointment given "the strong case presented at the inquiry, the previous positive recommendations of North Lincolnshire County Council's Planning Officer in respect of the applications and the issue of an Environmental Permit for the proposed development which was determined after an extensive and thorough review of our proposals.

"The Planning Inspectorate's decision to uphold our appeal for the extension of the original Wressle exploration well planning consent gives us some time to consider our next steps.

"We will now take the opportunity to consider in detail the reasons for the refusals as contained in the decision notice and review the options available to us. We will provide a further update in the next few days."

Europa Oil has a 30% working interest in Wressle alongside operator Egdon's 25%, Celtique Energie Petroleum with 33.33%, and Union Jack Oil with 11.67%. Upland Resources has a conditional farm-in agreement for 10% with Europa.