Chief Executive’s Community Message

In my role as Chief Executive of UKOG, I have a wide circle of people who contact me with inquiries relating to the activities in which the company is engaged. These include financial, technical and community related matters.

However, the real value and essence of UKOG’s business, is the marriage we strive to make between Britain’s oil and gas resources that the government and community allows us to explore for and develop, with the financial resources that our shareholders and lenders provide.

What is very important for all of our stakeholders to fully appreciate is that UKOG takes a holistic view of the costs and benefits of Britain’s onshore oil and gas resources. We will always respect the views and opinions of our community stakeholders. We welcome these opinions and will aim to take them into account as best we can.

One of the main reasons for this is I am someone who lives in and is part of the local community. I too respect the fact that there has to be the right relationship struck between natural resources development, economic development, employment opportunities and the natural and reasonable concerns of UKOG’s neighbours. Unsightly impacts on the natural beauty of Britain’s countryside and on the environment are matters that I take very personally and seriously, as do the rest of my team.

UKOG is a Conventional Oil and Gas Company
What sets UKOG apart from a number of other companies exploring and operating in UK onshore oil and gas is our mandate to only recover oil and gas by conventional recovery methods and not by the employment of invasive hydraulic methods.

UKOG’s team comprises some of the most talented and dedicated professionals in the UK industry. UKOG played a leading role in the drilling of the recent Horse Hill-1 well in the Weald Basin, near Gatwick Airport. This was one of the deepest exploration wells ever drilled onshore UK. With the support of some of the world’s leading independent petroleum geoscience specialists, we were for the first time able to secure a unique and up to date understanding of the geological formations of the Weald Basin and its hydrocarbon content. There is huge potential for these resources to be unlocked and to generate significant economic returns and improved energy security for the citizens of Britain.

It is this unique geological understanding that will enable UKOG to meticulously select exploration sites in the Weald Basin, with the full involvement and authorisations of the UK regulators. I firmly believe that the UK’s regulatory process is the most rigorous and stringent in the world.

The selection and approval of sites will be mindful of the needs of local villages, residential properties and local communities. Where feasible we will seek to make use of previous or existing light industry (“brown field”) sites,

UKOG wants our “marriage” with neighbouring communities, to be a success, and one that is based on a sound and equitable relationships and principles.

In the community section of our website, we have produced a question and answer section about oil and gas developments in the UK, particularly as they are relevant to the onshore sector. This section also provides our community stakeholders with an insight into UKOG’s vision for UK onshore oil and gas production, which we hope will give you confidence in UKOG, to work positively and respectfully with you to protect the interests of you, the local community and the environment in which we all live and work.

Stephen Sanderson
Chief Executive