Serica’s Bruce, Keith, and Rhum fields in two-month shutdown

January 30, 2020, by Offshore Energy Today

Oil and gas company Serica Energy has halted production on its Bruce, Keith, and Rhum fields due to issues on the Bruce platform in the UK North Sea.

Serica Energy said on Wednesday that, during a Bruce platform inspection, it had noticed deterioration on an unused seawater return caisson on the platform, which had been taken out of service in 2009.

Production through the Bruce facility was halted while the problem was fully investigated.

A subsequent underwater inspection determined that the unused caisson had parted below the waterline. Both the upper and lower sections of the caisson are intact and engineering work began to ensure that the caisson was properly secured.

Preliminary estimates state that this work will take approximately two months, following which production will be restored.

During this period there will be no production from the Bruce, Keith, and Rhum fields. According to Serica, the financial impact is mitigated by the net cash flow sharing arrangements entered into by the company with the sellers of interests in the fields in 2018.

To remind, the company bought its shares in the Bruce, Keith, and Rhum from BP in 2017, and Total in 2018.

Namely, Serica bought a 36% interest in Bruce, a 34.83% interest in Keith, and a 50% interest in Rhum from BP, as well as a 42.25% interest in the Bruce field and a 25% interest in the Keith field from Total.

In November 2018, Serica acquired a 16% interest in Bruce and a 31.83% interest in Keith field from BHP as well as 3.75% and 8.33% interest in each field from Marubeni.

Currently, the company holds a 98% interest in the Bruce field, a 100% interest in the Keith field and a 50% interest in the Rhum field. Serica operates all three assets.

Serica also said on Wednesday that other activities, including its share of production from the Erskine field, were unaffected.

Mitch Flegg, chief executive of Serica, said: “Although this is a frustrating event, our skilled offshore team have reacted very efficiently. The underwater investigation quickly determined the cause of the problem and a solution is being planned to allow the resumption of full production.”