Serica facing stabilization setbacks after North Sea FPSO restart

July 30, 2025, by Dragana Nikše

The UK-based upstream oil and gas player Serica Energy is experiencing a delay with normalizing production from its cluster in the North Sea, which is achieved via a floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel operated by compatriot Dana Petroleum.

According to Serica, the ramp-up to steady production after restarting FPSO Triton in July has been slower than the schedule provided by Dana, which operates the unit. As a result, production is now expected to reach a stable level in August.

The FPSO processes oil from eight producing oil fields forming part of the Triton cluster. These are Evelyn, Bittern, Guillemot West and Guillemot North West, Gannet E, Clapham, Pict, and Saxon.

The restart of production following a shutdown in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn has had its f a ir share of delays, with work to bring the unit back online reported to be underway in late June.

Restart of North Sea FPSO underway

Exploration & Production

As explained by Serica, a problem with the gas lift system was encountered once the production from the Bittern field, in which Serica has a 64.6% interest, was resumed, preventing other Triton fields from being restarted. Bittern flows first because associated gas from the field is used to provide gas lift for other wells and fuel gas for the FPSO.

Furthermore, production was stopped for a short period to resolve other minor issues. Since this is now complete, Serica expects the restart of the Triton fields, including new wells, to proceed to what it says is an expedited timeline.

Next up on the restart agenda are the Evelyn and Gannet fields, both of which are 100% owned by Serica. The firm also plans to bring new wells onstream for the first time, including those drilled at Guillemot North West (Serica: 10%) and Evelyn (Serica: 100%).

Chris Cox, Serica’s CEO, stated: “While teething issues with the resumption of production are not entirely unexpected after such a prolonged period of downtime, it doesn’t make it any less frustrating to once again see things at the Triton FPSO progressing more slowly than we would expect.

“Our production from other assets is currently robust at almost 30,000 boepd and our portfolio has the potential to produce over 55,000 boepd once all Triton fields are back online, levels that we now expect in August rather than July. We are continuing to drive discussions with senior management at Dana regarding the optimal way to run the FPSO going forward.”

Following work to tie the BE01 well on the Belinda field (Serica 100%) into the Triton FPSO, start of production is targeted for early 2026. A constrained well flow rate of 7,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) was achieved at this well during testing.

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

Exploration & Production

While the company hopes the combination of new wells and production ramp-up will add more volumes to the 25,000 boepd the Triton FPSO was producing net to Serica in January, the 2025 production guidance has still decreased due to the delays. The company now expects production for 2025 to be 33,000-35,000 boepd, as opposed to the previously envisaged 33,000-37,000 boepd.

Dana Petroleum tapped EnerMech to provide offshore shutdown support services for FPSO Triton, as disclosed in early July. The three-year fixed-term contract comes with a further two by two-year extension option periods.

In addition to ramp-up efforts, Serica has been busy expanding its North Sea portfolio. Earlier this month, the company completed the acquisition of Parkmead (E&P) Limited (PUK) from Parkmead Group, adding two more licenses on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS).