Offshore staff
LONDON – Serica Energy and BP have received a conditional license and assurance from the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) concerning the Rhum gas/condensate field in the UK North Sea, in which Iranian Oil Co. UK (IOC) is a partner.
Subject to fulfilment of the conditions, certain US-owned or controlled entities will be able to provide goods, services, and support involving Rhum, which Serica is due to operate after completing a transaction with BP.
OFAC also provided an assurance that non-US entities providing goods, services, and support to the field will not be exposed to US secondary sanctions.
The license is valid until end-October 2019 but may be renewed on application.
Serica added that arrangements are coming together ahead of the deadline of Nov. 4, 2018 concerning IOC’s interest, with all benefits related to this to be held in escrow while US sanctions, ensuring that neither IOC nor any of its direct or indirect parent companies gain any economic benefit from Rhum during that period.
Nor will IOC be able to take any decisions on the field.
Serica and BP can now complete their arrangements for theBruce, Keith and Rhum (BKR) fields, which now looks set to go through by end-November, with Serica also completing its transaction for the majority of Total’s interest in Bruce and Keith, which together are said to produce around 5% of the UK’s offshore gas.
Mitch Flegg, Serica’s chief executive, said: “Serica is now able to move forward to completing the BP and Total transactions, allowing us to focus on optimizing the full performance of the Bruce, Keith and Rhum fields, extend production life where possible and ensure maximum economic recovery of remaining reserves to the UK’s benefit.”
BP and Total are both retaining a 1% interest in Bruce.
10/09/2018
