From the U.K. Times:

Norwest Energy, an Australian exploration company listed on the Sydney stock exchange, has indicated that it intends to start drilling in Wessex. The company believes that it has found seven sites on the south Dorset coast, into Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight.

The geological structure known as the Wessex Basin is thought to hold Europe’s largest onshore oil and gas reserves. BP has long operated at Wytch Farm, an installation in the Isle of Purbeck on the southern shore of Poole Harbour. Wytch Farm produces 85 per cent of Britain’s onshore oil, and to date it has produced 400 million barrels. />

Since oil was struck at Wytch Farm in 1973, the Wessex Basin remains largely underexplored and the latest finds could be the first significant discoveries in nearly four decades, Norwest said.