Serica Energy announces further delays to North Sea production

Serica Energy, a UK based energy exploration and production company, announced that it was facing further production delays at its Erskine field in the North Sea due to maintenance issues.

Production from the Erskine field initially restarted on 27 July following a prolonged period to clear a blocked pipeline and undertake planned maintenance on the Lomond platform, which provides treatment and export facilities to Erskine.

Shell, the operator of the Lomond platform, advised that the re-commissioning of the Lomond expert facilities had taken longer than expected and further work was required on the main Erskine condensate export pump before it could be brought back on-line.

The company was advised by Shell that this was likely to take several more days rather than the expected week.

Aside from its operations in the North Sea, Serica had operations in the UK, Ireland, Morocco and Namibia.

Despite the delay, the company achieved initial field production rates of over 4,300 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) net to Serica before the present delays, which the board believed supported the capability of Erskine’s reservoir and wells to deliver at high rates.

Share price fell by 0.51% at 1131 BST on Tuesday to 14.55p.