Gas drilling in Jeremy Hunt’s Surrey constituency gets government approval Business

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The government has given the go-ahead to a controversial gas drilling project in the bucolic Surrey countryside.

A written statement from Housing Minister Stuart Andrew confirmed that UK Oil & Gas had been granted a three-year license to explore a site at Loxley near Dunsfold.

It comes even after the scheme was twice rejected by Tory-led Waverley Borough Council, while Jeremy Hunt, the Tory MP for South West Surrey, also opposed the move.

UK Oil & Gas, which welcomed the decision, estimated the site could hold 43 billion cubic meters of gas, and drilling will help determine the extent of the reserves.

5 things to start your day

1) Cost of filling average car hits £100 as petrol prices soar: The price of filling a tank of petrol is expected to hit £100 for the first time today as the cost of living crisis deepens.

2) Britain’s ‘vulnerable’ food supply after fertilizer plant shut down for good: Britain’s food supply is now ‘vulnerable’ after spiraling energy bills led to the permanent closure of one of only two major fertilizer factories, farmers have warned.

3) Sunak urged to cut taxes to tackle slowest growth of all major economies: Rishi Sunak has been urged by an influential global think tank to consider tax cuts as its forecast shows the UK is on track to grow slower than any major economy in the shadow of the war in Ukraine.

4) Households pay over £500m to switch off wind turbines: The cost of shutting down wind turbines hit a record high last year as the UK’s cable network and storage capacity struggled to keep up with the amount of electricity produced.

5) Euan Blair is worth £337m after his start-up is valued at over £1bn: Tony Blair’s son has an estimated paper fortune of £337million after his start-up Multiverse secured new investment which pushed its value to over £1billion for the first time.

What happened overnight

Hong Kong stocks were up at the start of trade this morning, with the Hang Seng index up 0.5pc.

The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.1pc while the Shenzhen Composite Index on China’s second largest stock exchange lost 0.2pc.

Tokyo stocks trended higher, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 up 0.2pc.

coming today

• Company : CMC Markets, Fuller Smith & Turner, ITM Power, Mitie, Norcros (annual results)AVI Global Trust, RWS (intermediate results)British American Tobacco (commercial update)
• Economy: RICS housing survey (UK)Trade (China)European Central Bank decision (eurozone)unemployment benefit claims (WE)