U.K. Ministers are proposing to simplify the process for energy companies tapping subterranean resources
A: Oil and gas in the UK is owned by the Crown. Licences to extract it are granted by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). However, in addition to a DECC licence, companies must obtain the consent of all landowners through whose land they need to drill to reach the resource. In Star Energy v Bocardo [2010], the Supreme Court confirmed that failure to do so would constitute a trespass.
Currently, if a company cannot reach agreement with all necessary landowners, it may apply to the secretary of state and, with his permission, to the courts for a grant of access rights through the Mines (Working Facilities and Support) Act 1966. There is no equivalent procedure through which geothermal companies can seek rights to use underground land without landowner consent.
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