COSL rig moving to next well on its drilling agenda as UK oil & gas player gears up to bring online previous one

UK-based oil and gas company Serica Energy is setting the stage to start production from a recently drilled well in the UK sector of the North Sea. The company’s multi-well drilling campaign and well work-over program will continue unabated, as a rig from COSL Drilling Europe, an offshore drilling player, will now start activities at another well, which is part of this assignment on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS).

While Serica’s program of planned activities is set to be carried out during 2024 and extend into 2025 and 2026, the firm’s investments in 2024 encompass four wells in the Triton area – Bittern B1z side-track (now known as B6 well), Gannet E GE-05, Guillemot North West EC1, and Evelyn EV-02 – along with well intervention work on the Bruce and Keith fields.

The UK player’s Triton area drilling campaign, which began in April this year with the COSL Innovator drilling rig to enhance production via the FPSO Triton, consists of eight producing oil fields: Evelyn, Bittern, Guillemot West and Guillemot Northwest (NW), Gannet E, Clapham, Pict, and Saxon.

After Serica acquired the entire issued share capital of Tailwind Energy Investments in a deal worth approximately £367 million, Dana Petroleum and Waldorf Production UK act as the firm’s partners in the Triton cluster, located in Central North Sea’s Block 21/30f approximately 6 km southeast of the FPSO and about 190 kilometers east of Aberdeen.

Chris Cox, Serica’s CEO, highlighted: “Investment sustains production and ultimately increases government tax revenues, supports the ability of companies in the North Sea ecosystem to play their part in the UK’s energy transition, and limits global emissions by lessening the need for higher-carbon imports.

“Our industry’s expenditure also supports highly-skilled jobs in an already established domestic supply chain across the UK. The skills which these companies have developed can largely be transferred and will be required during the energy transition.”

The Triton well campaign is estimated to deliver payback within two years. According to Serica Energy, the B6 well drilled during June and July on the Bittern field, which kicked off initial flow back to the FPSO Triton on September 11, is now producing oil and gas at a stable combined gross rate of around 8,000 boepd, a total of around 5,200 boepd net to the company.

The data collected during the drilling and completion activities on the Gannet GE-05 well, which have now also concluded, are said to have shown encouraging results, thus, production is expected to commence around the start of November. As a result, the COSL Innovator rig is now moving to drill the next well in the campaign on the Guillemot NW field.

Cox explained: “With an efficient subsurface programme, we believe Serica can offset the natural decline rates from our fields. The viability of sustaining production levels from our existing assets over the longer term, however, depends significantly on the future fiscal regime. With an appropriate fiscal regime, including full tax relief for capital expenditure, we have attractive options to invest both in our existing producing hubs and the Buchan Horst project.

“Buchan Horst is precisely the sort of project that the UK needs, involving the creation of over a thousand jobs across the UK, the re-use of existing infrastructure, industry-leading low emissions and domestically produced oil. We and our partners are keen to have the opportunity to allocate capital to the project and we hope that government will deliver a fiscal framework, and (following the recently announced consultation on environmental impact assessment guidance) a regulatory environment, which will enable this.”

After COSL’s rig drills wells on the Guillemot NW and Evelyn fields, it will finish the campaign with a well on the Belinda development on which Serica took a final investment decision in April. The Belinda development well is scheduled to be drilled in the first half of 2025 with the first oil expected in the first half of 2026 following tie-in work.

“We are also very active in seeking compelling M&A opportunities which are accretive for our shareholders. M&A is an area in which Serica has delivered in the past and, given the decades of experience of the team in this area, I am confident that we can and will build on this legacy. With a strong balance sheet and an exceptionally strong team, we are actively pursuing opportunities internationally as well as at home,” emphasized Cox.