18th Feb 2025 11:15
(Alliance News) - Shares in Serica Energy PLC fell on Tuesday as it said Storm Eowyn had caused production from the Triton floating production storage and offloading vessel to be suspended.
As a result, the North Sea-focused oil and gas producer said 2025 production guidance is under review. It will be "restated or revised pending further clarity on the timeline and implications for the necessary Triton activities, the firm said in a statement.
Shares in Serica were down 14% at 124.10 pence each in London on Tuesday morning.
Production for January averaged 37,000 barrels of oil per day, but fell to 27,000 boepd in February.
The company produced 34,600 boepd per day in 2024.
Chief Executive Chris Cox said given that the Triton FPSO was "recovering strongly" from the operational issues of 2024, the impact of Storm Eowyn is "deeply frustrating".
"Safety is of course always the number one priority, and we fully support the operator's actions in ensuring that this supersedes other considerations," he added.
Serica explained that during the storm on January 24, sea spray triggered the fire and gas detection system, causing an automatic production shutdown. Following an initially successful restart on January 28, it was established that the storm had caused minor damage to one of the cargo tanks which required repair.
While preparing to conduct the necessary repairs, Dana Petroleum identified an integrity issue with a coupling in the inert gas line required for purging the tanks prior to carrying out the repairs. Triton has remained offline subsequently pending identification of the root cause of the issue and the best means of resolving it.
"We currently expect that these safety critical repairs will result in the recommencement of production in mid-to-late March. The extent of annual maintenance work in the summer, currently scheduled for 40 days, is also under review. Work continues in parallel on the second gas compressor which, as previously notified, is on track to be available by the end of [the first quarter]," Serica stated.
By Jeremy Cutler, Alliance News reporter
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