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A FARMER somewhere on the outskirts of Hedge End faces a big dilemma over the coming weeks: Does he allow a corner of his lush green fields to be taken over by the oilmen?

Besides handing over some of his land, he risks incurring the wrath of neighbours fearful of the potential impacts of having an oilrig in their backyard.

Of course the payoff is that, by signing a long-term rental deal, his bank balance will receive a healthy boost for the foreseeable future.

Unfortunately, the thousands of other residents living on top of the oil lake won't see a penny.

Many homeowners might not realise it, but they actually only hold the rights to six feet under their property. The oil under Hedge End is locked in rocks from the Jurassic age, buried thousands of feet below.

The reservoir was discovered back in 1988 by oilmen drilling near Junction 7 of the M27. However, they didn't believe there was enough to make it worth the expense of pumping it out.

Exploration firm Northern Petroleum returned to the site three years ago, but their bid to drill on a Hampshire County Council-owned field off Woodhouse Lane, located just 300 metres from a primary school, was scuppered after a huge public outcry.

The firm said they would return and try again - now they have. The price of oil has more than doubled since 2005 and they are now sitting on a potential £5 billion black gold jackpot.

As oil production across the world slows down and demand rises ever higher, companies are exploring previously ignored onshore oilfields lying under parts of Hampshire, Dorset, West Sussex and the Isle of Wight.

Northern Petroleum estimate 200 millions barrels could be recovered from the region - a mere drop in the ocean compared to worldwide oil production, but potentially very lucrative for shareholders.

The great unknown is where they intend to drill. All we know is that they are in lease negotiations with a farmer who owns fields a "substantial distance" to the west of the original site.

Rumours have been circulating around Hedge End and Botley in recent months that scientists had been spotted carrying out tests on various fields.

Eastleigh MP Chris Huhne yesterday warned that uncertainty over the location of the proposed oilfield was adding to the fears of local homeowners already suffering a real estate slump.

"The cloak and dagger approach of Northern Petroleum is just making matters worse for thousands of householders in Hedge End and Botley who now fear that their homes could be blighted by industrial development," Mr Huhne said.

In 2005 hundreds of residents protested against everything from noise and pollution to lorry movements and destruction of the countryside.

However, Northern Petroleum maintain disruption to the community will be minimal and that a lot of opposition comes from the fear of the unknown.

In an operations update issued earlier this month, the firm also announced its ambition to drill an exploratory well at another Hampshire site near the A3, between Havant and Waterlooville, which could cause even greater controversy.

Exploration manager Graham Heard said noise from the 118ft (36 metre) drilling rig, which would operate 24 hours a day for up to seven weeks, was negligible.

"Although there is often quite a lot of local objection to a particular site, once a company comes in, carries out its operation and then leaves, quite often local people will say they never noticed it at all," he said.

The experience of residents at two of Hampshire's other oil villages would appear to back this up.

The discovery of one of the UK's largest onshore oil reserves in Avington, east of Winchester, in 2003, led to concerns that the green rolling fields would be replaced by an industrial wasteland.

The then Itchen Valley Parish Council chairman, Alison Matthews, reportedly described the find as an "unwelcome development in an area of outstanding beauty".

Meanwhile Peveril Bruce, the lucky owner of Matterley Farm Estate, hit the national headlines and was touted as the next J R Ewing when he signed a long-term lease with oil firm Pentex.

Five years on and the current parish council chairman Steve Gapper told the Daily Echo there had been virtually no complaints about the operation.

"We were compared to Dallas when it first started, but you couldn't imagine anything less like Dallas," he said.

"Quite honestly it was a non-event. It's not near houses which is obviously helpful, but most of the time we don't even know it is there. There is no noise, it's tucked away so we can't see it and we don't even see the tankers."

It's a similar story in Stockbridge, northeast of Winchester, where oil has been pumped for more than 15 years. Roger Tym, chairman of the local parish council, said: "We've barely noticed their existence, it's not been intrusive at all."

The obvious difference in Hedge End is the amount of housing.

There is little doubt that once the site is revealed a new army of NIMBYs (Not In My Backyard) will form.

However, Eastleigh Borough Council leader Keith House said that if Northern Petroleum did find an appropriate site, away from schools and homes, they would be encouraged to develop it.

The Hampshire County Council shadow environment spokesman said the firm must learn from its first "utterly shambolic" bid to drill by involving residents in an open public consultation.

"The big lesson that I hope both the county council and oil company have learned is that they have got to be totally open about what they want to do, how they want to do it, where they want to do it and then have an open and honest debate about it," he said.

"People want to know that, if anything is going to happen, it is going to be totally safe and that there are not going to be any chemicals released into the air and there is not going to be an issue about noise, dust and pollution.

"I would urge them to just come clean. Let's get it into the public domain, have a proper debate with the community about it and come to a conclusion about whether it is sensible or not."

An oil well site at a farm in Crawley Down, Titchfield, this week went under the hammer for £395,000. It was revealed that Star Energy, which is carrying out oil exploration, extraction and storage, was paying £51,000 a year to lease the site.

Where the next potential Hedge End oilfield is located could be a £51,000 question.

12:56pm Monday 21st April 2008

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