Serica Energy plc: UK 27th Licensing Round Award

LONDON--(Marketwired - Dec 2, 2013) - Serica Energy plc (TSX: SQZ)

TSX:SQZ

Serica Energy plc
("Serica" or the "Company")

UK 27th Licensing Round Award


London, 2 December 2013-Serica Energy plc (AIM&TSX:SQZ) is pleased
to announce that it has been offered a Traditional Licence in the
latest stage of the 27th Offshore Licensing Round, announced by the
Department of Energy and Climate Change on Friday 29 November.

Block 113/22 in the East Irish Sea has been offered to a group in which
Serica has a 35% interest and is operator for the group. This block is
adjacent to Serica Block 113/27c, which contains the Doyle Triassic gas
prospect, a fault and dip closed structure which possibly extends into
the newly awarded licence. Work commitments include obtaining 150
kilometres of 2D seismic data and a drill or drop decision on a well
within 3 years.

In June 2013, Serica announced that it had agreed to farm-out its
interest in Blocks 113/26b & 113/27c to Hydrocarbon Resources Limited
("HRL"), a subsidiary of Centrica, in return for HRL meeting Serica's
share of the costs of drilling a well in the Doyle prospect up to a
gross well cost of US$17 million. The farm-out agreement extends to
the new licence offered. As a result, Serica will have a 20% interest
both in the new licence offered and in Blocks 113/26b & 27c on
completion of the farm-out and will be carried on the well. A site
survey has been completed and the well is planned for late 2014.

The participants in the new licence award are:


Serica Energy (UK) Limited - Operator 35%
Hydrocarbon Resources Limited (a subsidiary of Centrica) 30%
MPX Limited 25%
Agora Limited (a subsidiary of Cairn Energy) 10%


Tony Craven Walker, Chairman and Interim CEO, commented: "We are pleased
with this award which will enable the group to push forward with drilling
operations to evaluate the Doyle prospect. Agreement is needed between
the group and the operator of a nearby wind-farm project before drilling
can commence and efforts are being made to bring these to an early
conclusion."


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 http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/4809U_1-2013-12-2.pdf 


                    This information is provided by RNS
          The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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