UK: Serica's Columbus Up for Tender

London-listed Serica Energy has today announced that it has opened up its Columbus field in the U.K. North Sea for tender.

In a move the company called a "significant step", Serica has issued tender documents to pre-qualified contractors for the fabrication, installation and hook-up of subsea facilities and for the provision of associated subsea equipment and systems. This step comes in advance of the planned field development for the field in the second half of this year. Production is expected to commence in 2015.

The Columbus field will be developed in parallel with with the construction  of a Bridge Linked Platform (BLP), which will be connected to the nearby producing Lomond field. The Columbus field will be linked to the BLP via a 7.7km pipeline. With the tender processes initiated for both the BLP and the Columbus field, Serica says it can now begin to progress the financing alternatives which are available for the field development.

Today the company said that the development of the field would be good for the U.K. and for the company itself.

"The project will bring much needed gas to the UK but will also provide Serica with a valuable cash flow which will enable it to build on other projects with significant future growth potential," Chairman and Interim CEO of Serica, Tony Craven Walker, said today. "These include projects underway elsewhere in the UK and the potentially transformational prospects which we have identified for drilling in our Namibian, Moroccan and Irish licences."

The U.K.'s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has already approved the field development plan for the Columbus field subject to the usual 

The field, which has has proven and probable reserves of 78 billion cubic feet of gas and 4.8 million barrels of condensate and natural gas liquids, is operated by Serica, which holds a 33.2 per cent stake.