License renewal in place for Serica’s North Sea gas field

UK-based oil and gas company Serica Energy has received a renewed license and secondary sanctions assurance from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for the Rhum field in the North Sea, in which the company has a 50 per cent interest.

The license and assurance are set to allow certain U.S. and U.S.-owned or controlled entities and also non-U.S. entities to continue providing goods, services and support to the Rhum project beyond 31 January 2023 when the current license is due to expire.

According to Serica, this will enable operations and production from the field delivering gas supplies to UK consumers to continue unaffected.

The new license is for a period of two years with an expiry date of 31 January 2025. It may be renewed on application by Serica assuming the conditions continue to be met.

“Once again we have secured a prompt renewal of the OFAC License for a period of a further two years. We are grateful to the UK government and regulatory authorities who have supported us in this process,” said Mitch Flegg, Chief Executive of Serica Energy.

Rhum is a gas condensate field producing from three subsea wells, R-1, R-2 and R-3, tied into the Bruce facilities through a 44-kilometer pipeline.

Flegg added that the license renewal satisfies one of the completion conditions required for the acquisition of Tailwind Energy Investments Ltd, announced at the end of 2022.

Serica will acquire the entire issued share capital of the company for approximately £367 million.