Bolting the stable door

announcement of a major discovery at the Horse Hill project in the Weald Basin near Gatwick. Extrapolating from the findings of one well drilled, the company suggested that the region could hold up to 100mn barrels, with some 15mn barrels recoverable. However, it later ‘clarified’ its position, stating that while it stood by its claims issued for the 55 sq mile stretch of the Weald that it owns under licence, it had conducted no further exploration work elsewhere and therefore couldn’t really comment on the wider 1,100 sq mile area. The British Geological Survey has estimated the Basin holds some 4.4bn barrels of shale oil.