Inland Oil Drill Rig,Sutherland,Scotland,UK. Royalty-Free Stock Photography

Inland Oil Drill Rig,Sutherland,Scotland,UK. Oil extraction has been going on in the UK since 1851, according to the United Kingdom Onshore Oil and Gas industry body. The largest onshore oil field in western Europe was opened in 1973 at Wytch Farm Oilfield in Eastern Dorset, in an area of outstanding natural beauty. There are currently around 120 UK sites with 250 operating wells producing between 20,000 and 25,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, concentrated in southern England, the Midlands, South Wales and central Scotland. Last year, the British Geological Survey (BGS) produced a report suggesting there were 4.4 billion barrels of oil trapped in shale rock under southern England - which would need fracking to get it out. This latest discovery, if accurate, would be easier and cheaper to exploit. But the oil is sitting under wealthy residential suburbs and protected environmental areas.Environmental pressure groups are not keen. Greenpeace UK chief scientist Dr Doug Parr said: "Dotting the English countryside with drilling rigs and pipelines to squeeze the last drop of oil out of Britain doesn't make any sense. "It's time we uncoupled our economy from the dangerous roller-coaster of fossil fuels and invested in the clean technologies that can provide safe and cheap energy for decades to come." As Redmayne Bentley's Mr Bracken says: "They could start drilling now if they wanted. The real problem in the UK isn't technical,