UK's Serica shuts in production from N Sea fields for platform repairs

London — UK-based Serica Energy said Thursday there would be no production from its Bruce, Keith and Rhum fields in the North Sea until the end of March while repairs are carried out at the Bruce platform.

The impact on gas production from the cluster is 6 million cu m/d, the company said in a separate REMIT message, which represents around 6% of UK gas production.

Production was initially halted on January 22 after an inspection of the Bruce platform showed that the condition of an unused seawater return caisson on the platform was observed to have deteriorated.

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

A subsequent underwater inspection determined that the unused caisson had parted below the water line and engineering work to ensure that the caisson is properly secured was started.

"Preliminary estimates are that this work will take approximately two months, following which production will be restored," Serica said.

In the REMIT message, Serica said the impact would continue until March 31.

During this period there will be no production from the Bruce, Keith and Rhum fields, it said.

'Frustrating' event

Serica CEO Mitch Flegg said the event was "frustrating."

"The underwater investigation quickly determined the cause of the problem and a solution is being planned to allow the resumption of full production," Flegg said.

Serica took over from BP as operator of Rhum in November 2018 when it bought the UK major's 50% stake. The other 50% is owned by Iran's NIOC, meaning Serica needs a waiver from US sanctions to continue operations at the field.

Serica bought up the interlinked Bruce and Keith fields around the same time.

Gas from Rhum and Bruce is transported to the UK mainland at St Fergus, while oil from Keith feeds into the Forties pipeline.