Triton FPSO downtime weighs on Serica Energy’s 2024 results

Serica Energy’s 2024 results have been weighed down by ongoing issues on the Triton floating production offloading and storage (FPSO) vessel.

According to the company’s audited full-year 2024 financial results, the company’s production fell to 34,600 boe per day last year, from 40,100 boe per day in 2023, with the company saying this was impacted by unscheduled downtime at the Triton FPSO.

In addition, revenue was down to $727m from £917m seen in 2023, with operating costs up to $330m from $273m in 2023.

Triton, operated by South Korea’s Dana Petroleum, went offline at the end of October due to a failed gas compressor.

Production resumed for a short window before ongoing work on the compressor seals took it offline again in early December.

The FPSO restarted on 27 December, capping off a “disappointing” end of the year for Serica Energy.

However, production was taken offline again in January due to damage Triton received from Storm Eowyn. Its restart date was subsequently pushed back from March to until at least May, with Serica’s 2024 results adding that production from Triton is now expected to resume in June.

According to Serica, the Triton FPSO produced over 25,000 boepd net to Serica on 23 January 2025, the day prior to production halting in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn.

This was boosted by production from the first two wells in the five-well Triton drilling campaign, Bittern B6 and Gannet GE05.

© Supplied by Chris Cox

Serica Energy CEO Chris Cox stated: “The highly positive results of the drilling campaign at Triton are not yet being reflected in our production and cashflow due to ongoing issues at the Triton FPSO. Our frustration is exacerbated by the fact that the Triton area alone could be delivering up to 30,000 boe per day net to Serica with the addition of the wells already drilled.”

Triton is located approximately 120 miles east of Aberdeen, and produces oil and gas from the Bittern, Clapham, Pict, Saxon, Guillemot Area subsea facilities.

“We are confident, after detailed discussions with the operator, Dana, of the work required to fix the issues, and we are pleased that the joint venture has agreed a plan to take advantage of the current downtime to bring forward the maintenance work scope originally scheduled for July,” Cox said.

“This removes the need for a summer maintenance shutdown, which combined with the activities undertaken should significantly increase uptime going forward.”

According to Serica, the company expects production of around 27,600 boe per day in the first quarter of 2025, at a reduced level due to the shutdown of the Triton FPSO in February and March.

The group’s production guidance for 2025 has been amended to 33,000-37,000 boe per day.

With maintenance work at the Triton FPSO set to complete in June, and no summer shutdown to then follow, Serica added that portfolio production in the second half is forecast to be ahead of the full-year 2025 guidance range.

Serica Energy’s results also said that the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) had consented to the company’s acquisition of Parkmead’s North Sea assets.

The £14m deal, which is now moving to completion, will see it take the Aberdeen-based group’s 50% stake in two licences, Skerryvore and Fynn Beauly.

Cox added that “we have elected to implement a prudent rebalancing of our capital allocation approach, giving us increased flexibility over the medium-term to allocate capital to the areas where it will deliver best value for shareholders.

“This adjustment will allow us to invest in the exciting drilling and development programmes in our portfolio and be opportunistic in accretive M&A, all while retaining our highly competitive shareholder distributions.”