Use land 300 metres or deeper for petroleum or geothermal work

If you drill for oil, gas or deep geothermal energy, your wells may pass under land you do not own. Section 43 of the Infrastructure Act 2015 gives anyone a right to use deep-level land, meaning land at least 300 metres below the surface, for the purposes of exploiting petroleum or deep geothermal energy. It applies within the onshore landward area defined in the Act. The right has been in force since 12 April 2015.

What the right covers

Section 44 sets out what you can do. You can drill, bore, fracture or otherwise alter the land, install infrastructure and keep, use or remove it, and pass substances through the land or leave them there. The purposes include searching for the resource, assessing whether it can be exploited, preparing to exploit it, and decommissioning afterwards. You can leave the land in a different condition, including leaving infrastructure or substances in it.

Depth is measured vertically down from the surface of the land, ignoring buildings and any water covering the land.

What the right does not do

The right gives you no greater power than you would have if a landowner had granted it, and it does not relieve you of any obligation or liability you would have had in that case. A landowner is not liable in tort, as owner, for loss or damage caused by your use of the right.

It is only a right of access at depth. You still need a petroleum licence, planning permission for the surface works, environmental permits, an agreement for the well site itself, and any consent for hydraulic fracturing.

Notice and payments to landowners

Regulations under these powers can also set financial penalties for breaches.