Spirit Energy focused on maximizing remaining North Sea resources
July 29, 2022
Spirit Energy’s North Sea area production rose 29% during the second quarter to 11.7 MMboe, excluding contributions from the company’s recently sold assets offshore Norway.
Courtesy Centrica
Sixteen miles west of Blackpool, offshore England’s northwest coast, lie the Morecambe Bay gas fields.
Offshore staff
WINDSOR, UK—Spirit Energy’s North Sea area production rose 29% during the second quarter to 11.7 MMboe, excluding contributions from the company’s recently sold assets offshore Norway.
Majority owner Centrica Resources said in its latest results statement that the results reflected strong performance from the Morecambe Bay gas field in the East Irish Sea and from Cygnus in the southern UK North Sea.
Also, volumes rose from Centrica’s own Rough Field in the southern sector, with optimization measures underway to allow the field to keep producing during periods of higher gas prices.
Under an amended shareholders’ agreement with SWM Group, Spirit’s future strategy will be to derive value from its remaining portfolio in the UK and the Netherlands while minimizing further investment in oil and gas exploration and field development, and to use some cashflow from operations to meet and de-risk decommissioning obligations for its remaining portfolio.
Spirit also will be free to pursue potential opportunities to exploit existing infrastructure for net-zero projects.
Gross decommissioning liabilities have decreased by £700 million following the sale of Spirit Norway and the interests in the Statfjord Field in the Norwegian North Sea.
