Serinus Restarts Tunisia Field as Protests End

Canadian independent Serinus Energy has initiated the restart of modest oil and gas production at its Sabria field in Tunisia, having determined "with sufficient comfort that there will be no further production disruptions for the foreseeable future," it said September 6.

At its Chouech Es Saida field, the company said it is evaluating the restart cost of the field including the timing and costs to replace the electrical submersible pump on its CS-3 well. Serinus said it will keep the market apprised as to when it expects to bring the Chouech Es Saida field back online. In late August, Serinus said it had been informed by Tunisian state producer ETAP that protests in the Kebili and Tataouine governate regions had ended.

In its August 10 statement on 2Q earnings, Serinus said that its Tunisian net production averaged just 329 boe/d thanks to field shut-ins, down from a more typical 1,206 boe/d in 2Q 2016. Chouech Es Saida field has been shut-in since February 28, 2017, owing to labour issues, in addition to which from May 22 the Sabria field had also been shut-in by continued social unrest in the south of the country. 

Austrian firm OMV said two months ago that work to redevelop its Nawara gas field in southern Tunisia had restarted, after a halt caused by protests.

Mark Smedley