Serica jumps on UK offshore licence awards

4th Jan 2012 09:09

Serica Energy, the oil and gas explorer, put on a spurt after announcing it had been offered two production licences in the UK government's offshore licensing programme.Block 110/8b in the East Irish Sea has been offered to Serica as operator with a 100% interest while a collection of other blocks near Centrica's York field have been offered to a consortium in which Serica has a 37.5% stake.Serica's Chief Executive Tony Craven Walker said of the awards:"We intend to seek a partner to join us in East Irish Sea Block 110/8b with a view to extending the exploration programme in this block and have already commenced discussions."In a separate announcement Serica says that the Namibian Minister for Mines and Energy, Isak Katali, has signed a so-called "petroleum agreement" which will allow Serica to begin exploration operations at the central Luderitz Basin.To secure the approval, Serica had to pay $1m in cash to the state oil company NAMCOR and hand over $2m in shares.At 9:19AM Serica shares were 8.19% up on yesterday's close. In the last 12 months the stock is down 50%.BS