OIL production in Sussex could bring billions of pounds to the economy and create hundreds of jobs, according to a report.

Experts commissioned by the company that wants to extract the oil underneath the Weald Basin have said it could also contribute around £18.1 billion in taxes.

The viability of the drilling has yet to be determined, and environmentalists argue renewable energy would be better choice.

The report commissioned by UK Oil and Gas (UKOG) looks at the potential economic impact of drilling the Kimmeridge limestone sections of the Weald Basin.

It was estimated more than 400 barrels of free-flowing oil can be produced each day from the site.

UKOG has said subsequent testing has shown that to be a "conservative" figure.

The report's authors, Ernst and Young, said the site could generate between £140 million and £1035 million in business rates for local councils and could bring between 314 to 1,519 jobs to the region.

Stephen Sanderson, chief executive officer of UKOG, told The Argus he would expect an industry to develop in the region with the project, creating local jobs rather than using workers from areas where there is already an industry.

He said: "I think if we have the levels of development we are predicting then I think you would get an 'Aberdeen effect' here, and you would have companies setting up down here."

He envisaged 25 wells on 12 sites at a low estimate, or up to as many as 100 sites. He said these could be underground and they would try and use brownfield sites.

The company plans to do more tests over coming months into the viability of the site, while making the case to the Government that it is worth supporting.

Brighton Pavilion's Caroline Lucas MP is opposing plans and has argued clean, renewable power generation was "the best way to secure Britain’s energy future, create decent jobs and cut dangerous pollution."

She added: "Drilling for oil in Sussex, on the other hand, would both undermine the absolute need to keep the vast majority of fossil fuels in the ground to protect our climate and, with up to 2,400 wells are drilled at up to 100 locations, be a blight on the landscape.

“Residents in Sussex have stopped fossil fuel extraction projects in the past and I have no doubt that campaigners are gearing up to fight against this drilling too.”

COUNCIL UNDER PRESSURE TO STOP INVESTING IN FOSSIL FUELS

FURTHER pressure has been heaped on councils to stop investing in oil and mining firms after one of its members voted through an ethical investment policy.

Hastings Borough Council (HBC) has passed a motion supporting the removal of investment in fossil fuel companies within the next five years.

The authority also agreed to work with other councils in East Sussex to encourage and assist them to adopt a similar responsible investment policy.

The news follows similar steps being considered by the University of Sussex. The university announced the approval of a new socially responsible investment policy, which could see it pulling hundreds of thousands of pounds from oil, mining and arms companies last week.

Around five per cent of the university’s £8million investment portfolio was in oil firms such as BP and Shell and miners Rio Tinto but that could be withdrawn when the new policy comes into force from August.

East Sussex Pension Fund, which manages pension contributions for Hastings Borough Council, Brighton and Hove City Council and East Sussex County Council, has reportedly around £172 million investment in energy and fracking companies and has faced previous calls to invest in more ethical firms.

On Wednesday, HBC unanimously passed council leader Peter Chowney’s motion which included a pledge to divest from direct ownership and any commingled funds that include fossil fuel public equities and corporate bonds within five years. Fossil Free Hastings campaigners urged other members of the East Sussex Pension Fund to follow in HBC’s footsteps.