‘Outstanding’ drilling results at Serica’s North Sea cluster spur hopes for late June production restart

UK-based upstream oil and gas player Serica Energy has provided an update on the activities undertaken to resume production at its floating production storage and offloading unit (FPSO) in the North Sea following a shutdown caused by a storm.

Now that the repairs to FPSO Triton following issues discovered in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn, which caused production to be shut down in January 2024, have been completed, production is expected to resume once the annual maintenance programme is complete. This is scheduled to take place by the end of June.

Production was first expected to resume in mid-March, but the scope of repair work has caused the date to be bumped to May. As stated by Serica, the Triton hub was producing at a rate of approximately 25,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) net to Serica immediately before the shutdown.

The production in the Triton cluster is achieved via the Dana Petroleum-operated FPSO Triton. The vessel gets its hydrocarbons from eight producing oil fields: Evelyn, Bittern, Guillemot West and Guillemot North West, Gannet E, Clapham, Pict, and Saxon.

Following the restart, the W7z well on the Guillemot North West field and the EV02 well on the Evelyn field, which were delivered during the Triton downtime, are expected to be brought on production for the first time.

The company shared that its BE01 well on the 100% Serica-owned Belinda field was drilled and completed ahead of schedule and under budget. Last month, the UK player disclosed that the COSL Innovator rig had relocated to the field to get the job done.

BE01 has now been flow tested through COSL Innovator, delivering rates of 7,500 boepd, constrained by the surface well test equipment design specifications. With work underway on the installation of subsea infrastructure, Belinda is expected to be tied in to Triton and start production in early 2026. 

Chris Cox, Serica’s CEO, stated: “The drilling performance and subsurface results of those new wells have been outstanding, and the BE01 well on Belinda was also completed ahead of time and under budget. The impressive flow test rate of 7,500 boepd announced today is another demonstration of our ability to identify and deliver subsurface opportunities, and Belinda (in which we have 100% working interest) will add to our production early next year after the requisite subsea infrastructure is completed.”

Cox further stated that the company’s subsurface team is now focused on converting Kyle and future Bruce well volumes from resources to reserves. However, taking a final investment decision (FID) is conditional upon a regulatory and fiscal regime that supports the delivery of projects in the UK North Sea, concluded Serica’s CEO.

The Kyle Redevelopment, located in Block 29/2c, is a previously producing oilfield located 20 kilometers southeast of Triton, shut-in due to the decommissioning of the FPSO Banff host facility, in 2020. It presents a potential redevelopment opportunity with a single horizontal well tied-back to Triton via Bittern, similar to other Triton tie-backs.

As explained, subsurface work to date has confirmed the attractiveness of the Kyle redevelopment, and subsurface and front-end design work tenders are set to be issued later this year, with the potential for an FID in early 2026.

The Bruce field is a producing asset located in blocks 9/9a, 9/8a and 9/9b in the Northern North Sea. According to Serica’s latest update, over 20 potential infill targets have been identified following the analysis of opportunities for drilling at Bruce. The UK firm plans to high-grade these over the course of the year to select the best possible opportunities for a future drilling campaign M&A.

David Latin, Chair of Serica, weighed in by saying that he shares the management’s excitement regarding the potential for the conversion of a material portion of 2C resources, and looks forward to seeing the progression of Kyle and opportunities around Bruce, Keith & Rhum (BKR), as they are developed into firm drilling plans. 

He echoed Cox’s view in saying that committing to invest in such growth opportunities will only be possible with an appropriate regulatory and fiscal environment.

The firm is awaiting fiscal and regulatory clarity in another project–the Buchan Horst (Buchan) development, as the UK government has not yet made a decision on new environmental guidance for oil and gas firms.

“The drilling programme around the Triton Hub has seen exceptional subsurface and drilling results, reinforced by the latest flow test result on Belinda announced today, undermined by disappointing facilities performance. The team is confident however, that we will have seen the back of these issues very soon,” noted Latin.

Apart from well and drilling-related updates, the UK player shared that the acquisition of 100% of the shares in Parkmead (E&P) Limited, announced in December 2024, was completed at the end of April following the receipt of all relevant approvals.

The firm believes this transaction provides optionality regarding future projects, simplifies decision making, and provides strategic flexibility relating to the existing position in the Skerryvore prospect, in which it has a 70% interest following the acquisition of Parkmead.