The biggest onshore oil discovery in the last three decades has been made in the land near Gatwick Airport.
UKOG now hopes to meet 10-30% of UK oil demand by 2030, says the Independent.
An exploration firm has confirmed the land under Horse Hill near Gatwick could contain 158 million barrels of oil per square mile – up to 100 billion barrels in total. The firm is hoping it could meet between 10 per cent and 30 per cent of UK demand for oil by 2030. UKOG says oil is located within the Upper Jurassic Kimmeridge formation between 2,500ft (762m) and 3,000ft (914m) below the surface.
"We believe we can recover between 5 per cent and 15 per cent of the oil in the ground, which by 2030 could mean that we produce 10 per cent to 30 per cent of the UK's oil demand from within the Weald area."
UKOG said they discovered between 50 and 100 billion barrels of oil in place in the ground, admitting that only a small portion of that estimated figure would actually be recovered but describing the the find as a "world class potential resource". It believes that between three per cent and 15 per cent of the oil could be extracted.
The find will not affect the price of petrol immediately, as it is governed by the global price of oil. However, it could swell tax coffers and boost UK jobs in the weakened UK oil and gas sector.
Energy companies are the UK’s largest industrial investor. In 2012-13, the industry paid £6.5 billion in corporate taxes on production, over 15 per cent of all corporate taxes in the UK, say the Independent.
