North Eigg scrambles Serica’s share price

One of the North Sea’s most anticipated exploration wells comes up short

UK independent Serica Energy’s share price dropped from just shy of 320p/share to under 280p/share by Wednesday’s close after it disclosed disappointing results from its North Eigg exploration probe close to its Rhum field in the Northern North Sea. While the well encountered hydrocarbons, commercial quantities have not yet been established, the firm said on Monday. At the well location, the objective sands were thinner than had been predicted but a total of 16ft of hydrocarbons-bearing sands were encountered, confirming the presence of hydrocarbons at a greater depth than at Rhum. Serica will now aim to determine if a future sidetrack location can be designed to better evaluate the volumes