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(Alliance News) - Serica Energy PLC on Monday set its production guidance for 2024, and said recently appointed chief fiancial officer, Martin Copeland, has officially begun his role at the company.
The oil and gas company operating in the UK North Sea set its annual production guidance to between 41,000 to 48,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
"This reflects a range of outcomes in a year of significant activity including the speed with which the scheduled drilling and well work deliver incremental production," the firm said.
Serica's pro-forma net production in 2023 averaged 40,121 boe/d.
2024 year to date production has averaged 43,184 boe/d, it said, however it noted that the Erskine field in the UK Central North Sea has been shut in since January 25 due to an issue with a compressor. It is expected to restart during March, Serica noted.
On Monday Serica also announced that Copeland has assumed the role of CFO. He will be succeeding Andy Bell, who resigned from the board back in November. Bell will continue to support Serica during the transition, however.
Copeland is a principal for energy advisory firm Kirk Lovegrove & Co Ltd. He has worked in oil and gas financing and advisory roles across a number of investment banks for more than 30 years.
This includes advising Premier Oil PLC on their reverse takeover by Chrysaor Holdings Ltd to create Harbour Energy PLC, advising JX Nippon Mining & Metals Corp on the sale of their UKCS business to Neo Energy Metals PLC and advising Tailwind Energy Chinook Ltd on their sale to Serica.
Chief Executive Officer Mitch Flegg said: "Pro-forma production in 2023 after including volumes from the Tailwind assets for the full year was just over 40,000 boe/d net to Serica. I am pleased that we met our operating cost target with pro-forma operating costs of around USD19 per boe despite the significant inflation being experienced by the offshore sector generally. We are aiming to keep unit operating costs below USD20 per boe during 2024."
Shares in Serica Energy down 3.1% to 193.80 pence each in London on Monday morning.
By Sabrina Penty, Alliance News reporter
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