Corallian oil rig to leave within days

A spokesperson for its operator, Corallian Energy Limited, confirmed that operations had been completed.

The company is waiting for the right weather so it can move the rig back to the North Sea.

The rig, Ensco 72, found much than the 23million barrels of oil it hoped to discover at the Colter South site it was targeting – but 15m barrels at a site to the south, which it said “remains an opportunity”.

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A statement released by Corallian said: "The data from these well results and existing data will be incorporated to determine the best forward plan.

"Corallian and its Joint Venture partners would like to thank the well operator Fraser Well Management, rig operator Ensco and all the many contractors who assisted with the drilling operations which have been completed safely in an environmentally sensitive area."

Any potential oil extraction from the site would be carried out from Wytch Farm in Purbeck.

Corallian's spokesperson said it currently had no plans to return with an oil rig in Poole Bay.

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Meanwhile, Bournemouth West MP Conor Burns has received assurances from the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning (Opred) after he raised concern about the impact on the Jurassic Coast.

Jonathan Ward, director of environmental operations for Opred, said: “I can reassure you that all uses and discharges of chemicals during the drilling operations have been risk assessed to confirm that they would not have a significant adverse effect on the receiving environment, and that the quantities that can be used and discharged are specified in the Chemical Permit issued under the Offshore Chemicals Regulations 2002.”

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He said the operator would have to submit a detailed return confirming the use and discharge of chemicals after completion of the drilling. If there was any breach of the permitted limits, the operator would have to submit a non-compliance report to the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Corallian was originally allowed 38 days of exploratory drilling over the winter, ending on February 28. But the licence was extended to the end of March without any consultation with the public, MPs or councillors.

Mr Ward wrote that “our key environmental consultees were content that an extension to the end of March would not significantly extend into key breeding seasons”. He said the permission would not have been extended beyond March 31.