North Sea roundup: Serica drilling campaign, Lyra contract award lead latest activity
Why this news matters:
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North Sea operators continue to invest in drilling, subsea developments and gas projects despite industry headwinds.
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Infrastructure-led tiebacks and redevelopment projects remain key to extending field life and supporting regional production.
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Labor disruptions highlight ongoing operational challenges even as project activity accelerates.
North Sea activity continues to span the full project lifecycle, from exploration and drilling to field development and subsea execution.
Recent developments include Serica Energy's plans for a multi-well drilling campaign, a major subsea contract award supporting the Lyra development offshore Norway, and Kistos's entry into the planned Abbey and Baker gas project.
Separately, offshore workers represented by Unite have expanded strike action on Apache's North Sea-operated facilities, highlighting ongoing operational pressures in the mature basin.
Serica hires Odfjell-managed rig for multi-well North Sea campaign
Serica Energy has contracted the Odfjell Drilling-operated semisub Beacon Pacific for a multi-well drilling campaign at various locations in the UK North Sea and west of Shetland.
The targets will comprise a mixture of “high-return” and near-field opportunities, Serica reported. If successful, these could add up to 30,000 boe/d of incremental production, enabling the company to sustain overall output of 50,000 boe/ into the 2030s.
Beacon Pacific, owned by Beacon Pacific Offshore, is a sixth-generation semisubmersible that has been upgraded for operations down to a depth of 620 m. Serica may also use the rig for P&A tasks.
Reactivation has started ahead of Odfjell Drilling taking over management of the rig, including mobilization and transit to the UK for Serica’s program.
“The Beacon Pacific is similar in capability and specification to the Deepsea Yantai, which we have been managing for many years now," said Odfjell Drilling CEO Kjetil Gjersdal.
The contract’s firm scope covers six wells, with options for additional activity. Drilling is currently set to start next summer with the first new wells on the Bruce gas-condensate field in the northern UK North Sea since 2012.
These could add more than 10,000 boe/d of incremental production, with the first wells potentially going online within 12 months.
Drilling opportunities:
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Reserves/resources targeted |
Initial production potential net to Serica |
Time to production from start of drilling |
|
Bruce infill drilling |
18.6 MMboe 2P |
>10,000 boe/d |
12 months |
|
Kyla redevelopment |
10.1 MMboe 2P |
>5,000 boe/d |
5 months |
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Edradour Royal Sovereign Spinnaker |
5 MMboe 2C |
>5,000 boe/d |
6 months |
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Tormore |
TBC |
4,000 boe/d |
6 months |
Serica also sees scope to use the Beacon Pacific for drilling on the Kyla (ex-Kyle) Field redevelopment and in the Greater Laggan Area west of Shetland, following partner and regulatory approvals.
Subsea 7 to connect Lyra oil field to Gjøa platform
The Lyra Field will be tied back 44 km to the Var Energi-operated Gjøa platform via the Nova Field subsea infrastructure.
Subsea7's EPCI work scope covers the gas lift and production pipelines and associated subsea infrastructure. The production pipeline will be a pipe-in-pipe design.
The company will manage the project management and engineering activities from its base in Stavanger, with the pipelines to be fabricated at its spool base at Vigra, Norway.
Offshore operations will take place in phases during 2026, 2027 and 2028.
Lyra was discovered last year. To speed up the development schedule, Subsea7 gained a pre-commitment for long-lead equipment items in December 2025.
The Gjøa area partners agreed last week to fast-track the Lyra development as a three-well subsea completion tied back to the Gjøa semisub.
Partner DNO International estimated recoverable reserves at 37 MMboe in a results statement. While Aker BP will operate the development, operatorship will revert to DNO after first oil in 2028.
At peak, Lyra should deliver about 20,000 boe/d through the platform, in addition to extra production from four other current tieback projects in the Gjøa area.
Freke appraisal comes up dry
Elsewhere in the North Sea, Aker BP and partner Equinor were unsuccessful with an appraisal well on the 2009 Freke discovery.
Well 15/6-18 S, drilled by the Deepsea Nordkapp semisub in 111 m of water, was the first well in production license 1139, 13 km north of the Sleipner Field; the 15/6-10 discovery well was drilled in former production license 029 B.
Prior to drilling, the partners viewed the resource in the range 12.6 MMboe to 26.4 MMboe, according to the Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD). However, the well only encountered oil shows and has been classified as dry hole.
The licensees will now work to clarify the commercial potential, the NOD added.
Unite the Union steps up strike action on Apache platforms
Unite the Union has outlined further planned strike action by 170 Apache-employed staff at the Forties and Beryl field complexes in the UK central North Sea.
Apache North Sea is a subsidiary of APA Corp.
Late last month, initial strike action halted operations on all the associated seven offshore facilities, the Union claims. The dispute relates to jobs, pay and conditions.
The next planned strike, due to last for 24 hours, will start at 06.00 hours on Nov. 4 and continue until 05.59 hours the following day. Those involved include electrical, instrument, mechanical and production technicians, telecoms technicians and radio operators.
Further action is planned over three days next week, which will impact different platforms on alternative days.
This will initially involve Unite members working on the Forties Alpha, Forties Bravo, Forties Delta and Beryl Bravo platforms, starting at 18:00 hours on Nov. 13 and concluding at 17:59 hours on Nov. 14.
Staff on the Forties Charlie, Forties Echo and Beryl Alpha platforms will then initiate strike action at 06:00 hours on Nov. 15 through 05:59 hours on the following day.
Unite said it had challenged what it describes as “several misleading claims” from Apache concerning the pay and working conditions of the offshore workers, large numbers of which are said to be Unite members.
Dougie Maguire, Unite Scottish deputy secretary, said:
“Many of our Apache members are being offered a real terms pay cut. There is a detrimental [seven-day] claw back policy in place which is above the industry average, and Apache has threatened to withhold back pay…
We have no choice but to escalate our action until Apache gets back round the table with an offer which is acceptable to our members.”
Kistos set to join Petrogas in Baker, Abbey gas project
Kistos Energy has a binding agreement with Petrogas North Sea to farm into 30% of the UK North Sea production licenses containing the Abbey and Baker gas fields.
Petrogas submitted a draft Field Development Plan and Environmental Statement for the fields in July. Both are in 40 m water depth in the southern gas basin.
Baker was discovered in 2024 and Abbey was successfully appraised in 2025.
The planned development calls for four wells across the two fields, with a subsea tieback to a nearby, existing platform.
Produced gas would be exported into the UK National Transmission System, peaking at about 18,000 boe/d.
Petrogas has operated the fields since 2022 and will remain operator. Kistos expects the North Sea Transition Authority to issue its consent, with the transaction likely closing before the end of the year.
About the Author
Jeremy BeckmanJeremy Beckman
Staff Writer / Editor, Europe
Jeremy Beckman has been Editor Europe, Offshore since 1992. Prior to joining Offshore he was a freelance journalist for eight years, working for a variety of electronics, computing and scientific journals in the UK. He regularly writes news columns on trends and events both in the NW Europe offshore region and globally. He also writes features on developments and technology in exploration and production.
