Serica agrees to acquire 40pc interest in North Sea licence

(Sharecast News) - Serica Energy announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to acquire a 40% interest in the UK North Sea P2530 licence from Finder Energy, for initial consideration of about £0.5m ($0.65m), expanding its portfolio with additional contingent resources and exploration potential. The AIM-traded firm said the licence, currently held by Finder Energy with a 60% operated stake and Dana Petroleum with 40%, includes the Wagtail oil discovery and the Marsh and Bancroft exploration prospects.

It said the transaction would add an estimated eight million barrels of net 2C contingent resources to its portfolio, strengthening its pipeline of organic growth opportunities.

The Wagtail discovery lies northwest of the Triton floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel.

Serica said the North Sea Transition Authority had granted an extension of the current licence phase until 31 August next year, during which development and engineering feasibility studies will assess the potential for Wagtail to be tied back to Triton.

Following the studies, the joint venture partners would decide whether to move to the next phase of the licence and commit to drilling an appraisal well or relinquish the acreage with no further commitments.

Completion of the farm-in remained subject to regulatory approval from the NSTA and other customary consents.

Serica said the acquisition aligned with its strategy of building a balanced portfolio of producing, development and exploration assets in the UK North Sea.

At 1534 GMT, shares in Serica Energy were down 1.04% at 216.72p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.