COSL rig spuds last well on its North Sea list with Serica

UK-based upstream oil and gas player Serica Energy is bringing its multi-well drilling campaign and work-over program in the North Sea to an end, as a rig from COSL Drilling Europe has started drilling the final well in this campaign on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS).

Serica’s ongoing drilling program’s initial results are seen as encouraging, as the FPSO Triton produced over 25,000 boepd net to Serica on 23 January 2025, the day before the production halt in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn, boosted by production from the first two wells in the five-well Triton drilling campaign, Bittern B6 and Gannet GE05.

The drilling activities on the subsequent two wells, the W7Z well on the Guillemot North West field and the EV02 well on the Evelyn field, are now complete, with W7Z set to be hooked up for production shortly after the restart of production, followed by EV02.

As a result, the COSL Innovator rig has now relocated and embarked on drilling the BE01 well on the Belinda field, which is the final well in the campaign, with the initial production expected in early 2026. This is in line with the firm’s timeline, as the well was scheduled to be spud in April, with production slated for early Q1 2026, following the installation of subsea infrastructure.

The FPSO Triton gets hydrocarbons from eight producing oil fields: Evelyn, Bittern, Guillemot West and Guillemot North West, Gannet E, Clapham, Pict, and Saxon. Serica reported a material increase in 2C resources to 88.7 mmboe at end-2024, compared to 30.3 mmboe at end-2023, with the potential to convert significant resources into reserves in the medium term.

Chris Cox, Serica’s CEO, stated: “The highly positive results of the drilling campaign at Triton are not yet being reflected in our production and cashflow due to ongoing issues at the Triton FPSO. Our frustration is exacerbated by the fact that the Triton area alone could be delivering up to 30,000 boepd net to Serica with the addition of the wells already drilled.

“We are confident, after detailed discussions with the Operator, Dana, of the work required to fix the issues, and we are pleased that the joint venture has agreed a plan to take advantage of the current downtime to bring forward the maintenance work scope originally scheduled for July. This removes the need for a summer maintenance shutdown, which combined with the activities undertaken should significantly increase uptime going forward.”

The firm underlines that the production of 34,600 boepd in 2024, of which 64% was gas, was impacted by unscheduled downtime at the FPSO. The same reason led to the production of about 27,600 boepd in Q1 2025. Following discussions with Dana Petroleum, which is the operator of the FPSO Triton, the joint venture partners decided to bring forward the summer maintenance period, integrating it into the current work program to enable increased uptime for the remainder of the year versus previous expectations.

The production from Triton is now expected to resume in June, with no further planned shutdowns in 2025. The availability of the second compressor upon resumption is expected to mitigate the cause of instability that impacted 2024. Following operational issues at Triton in Q1, production guidance for 2025 has been amended to 33,000-37,000 boepd.

Cox emphasized: “Ongoing analysis has seen a small decrease in our 2P reserves but materially increased our 2C resources – and there is more to come as work continues. This indicates the strength of our organic pipeline, with a clear route to converting resources to reserves – the Kyle redevelopment looks particularly attractive, and multiple infill drilling opportunities around the Bruce Hub have been identified.

“With the above in mind, we have elected to implement a prudent rebalancing of our capital allocation approach, giving us increased flexibility over the medium-term to allocate capital to the areas where it will deliver best value for shareholders. This adjustment will allow us to invest in the exciting drilling and development programmes in our portfolio and be opportunistic in accretive M&A, all while retaining our highly competitive shareholder distributions.”

The acquisition of Parkmead was revealed in December 2024, providing optionality regarding future projects and bringing with it carried forward tax loss balances. The deal is moving towards completion, with consent from the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) now in hand.

Serica claims to be very active in screening cash-generative and value-accretive M&A opportunities in the UK North Sea and other geographies. The firm plans to undertake a flare gas recovery project at Bruce.

On the other hand, the forecast spend on Buchan Horst remains limited, as partners await clarity regarding the UK’s long-term fiscal regime and guidance for environmental impact statements.