Serica Energy Regulatory News (SQZ)

2 Feb 2007 14:00

Serica Energy plc02 February 2007 For immediate release: Friday 2 February 2007 SERICA ENERGY AWARDED THREE UK OFFSHORE LICENCES London, 2 February 2007 - Serica Energy plc (AIM and TSX Venture: SQZ) ispleased to announce the award of three licences in the UK 24th OffshoreLicensing Round. Serica was awarded Block 23/16g in the Central North Sea, Block 48/17d in theSouthern North Sea and Blocks 113/26b and 113/27b (part) in the East Irish Sea.Serica is the operator of all three licences. The 23/16g block, in which Serica will have a 50% interest, is just to the northof the Serica operated 23/16f block which contains the recently announcedColumbus gas-condensate discovery. Serica has already identified a prospect inthe block, using the same advanced technology that it used to identify theColumbus prospect. The 48/17d block, in which Serica will have a 100% interest, is adjacent to theSerica operated 48/16b Licence that contains the Chablis gas discovery. The Licence in the East Irish Sea covering the 113/26b block and the 113/27bpart block, in which Serica will have a 100% interest, lies immediately north ofthe Morecambe Field, the UK's largest gas field, and the area has not beenavailable for licensing for many years. Paul Ellis (Chief Executive) said: "We are extremely pleased with the result of the UK 24th Round awards. Togetherwith our success in the Norwegian APA 2006 Licensing Round earlier this week,these awards both strengthen and diversify our portfolio within our NorthwestEurope focus area. "In the UK, Serica continues to add significant low risk prospects to itsexploration portfolio that are close to existing production facilities andinfrastructure. Given our track record at Columbus of drilling a discovery wellwithin a year of licence award, we are looking forward to securing a rig todrill one or more of the prospects on our new acreage in the near future." Enquiries: Serica Energy plcPaul Ellis, pellis@serica-energy.com +44 (0)20 7487 7300Chief Executive OfficerChris Hearne, chearne@serica-energy.com +44 (0)20 7487 7300Finance Director Pelham Public Relations -UKJames Henderson james.henderson@pelhampr.com +44 (0)20 7743 6673Alisdair Haythornthwaite alisdair.haythornthwaite@pelhampr.com +44 (0)20 7743 6676 CHF Investor Relations - CanadaJan Moir jan@chfir.com +1 416 868 1079Heather Colpitts heather@chfir.com +1 416 868 1079 Background Notes Serica Energy plc is an international oil and gas exploration company withoperations in Indonesia, the UK and Norwegian North Sea, Spain, Ireland andVietnam. On 31 January 2007 the Company announced the award of a 20% interest in both ofthe two licences that it applied for in Norway's 2006 Awards in Predefined Areas("APA") Licence Round. The two offshore licences lie in the Egersund Basin,about 120 kilometres southwest of Stavanger, and contain three undeveloped oildiscoveries. The Company's ordinary shares are listed in London on AIM and on the CanadianTSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "SQZ". The 2005 Annual Report and Accountscan be obtained from the Company's web-site www.serica-energy.com and atwww.sedar.com. Forward Looking Statements This disclosure contains certain forward looking statements that involvesubstantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyondSerica Energy plc's control, including: the impact of general economicconditions where Serica Energy plc operates, industry conditions, changes inlaws and regulations including the adoption of new environmental laws andregulations and changes in how they are interpreted and enforced, increasedcompetition, the lack of availability of qualified personnel or management,fluctuations in foreign exchange or interest rates, stock market volatility andmarket valuations of companies with respect to announced transactions and thefinal valuations thereof, and obtaining required approvals of regulatoryauthorities. Serica Energy plc's actual results, performance or achievementcould differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forwardlooking statements and, accordingly, no assurances can be given that any of theevents anticipated by the forward looking statements will transpire or occur, orif any of them do so, what benefits, including the amount of proceeds, thatSerica Energy plc will derive there from. The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To receive Company news releases via email, please contact heather@chfir.com and specify "Serica press releases" in the subject line. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange