Odfjell Drilling Adds New Rig to Fleet Ahead of Serica's UK Drilling Campaign
November 2, 2026
Odfjell Drilling has secured an agreement to manage Beacon Pacific semi-submersible rig for a six-well drilling campaign with Serica Energy offshore UK, scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2027.
Serica Energy has signed the drilling contract with rig owner Beacon Pacific Offshore, an affiliate of CIMC Offshore International Holding, while Odfjell Drilling will take over operational management of the rig throughout the campaign, including its mobilization and transit to the United Kingdom.
The contract covers six firm wells with options for additional drilling activity, targeting near-field opportunities across Serica's portfolio that could deliver up to 30,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in incremental production.
Serica expects the campaign to help sustain portfolio production of 50,000 boepd into the next decade.
The program is scheduled to begin at the Bruce field, marking the first drilling activity there since 2012. Serica is targeting more than 10,000 boepd of additional production from infill drilling, with first production potentially starting around 12 months after drilling begins.
Bruce infill drilling targets 18.6 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) of 2P reserves.
Other identified opportunities include the Kyla redevelopment, Edradour Royal Sovereign and Spinnaker, and Tormore.
"Securing the rig is an important milestone in delivering our organic growth programme. Our first campaign will be at Bruce - the field's first drilling program in almost fifteen years - where we are targeting high-return infill wells with the potential for rapid payback," said Chris Cox, CEO of Serica Energy.
Further opportunities across Kyla and the Greater Laggan Area remain subject to partner and regulatory approvals.
The Beacon Pacific semi-submersible has been upgraded for operations in water depths of up to 620 metres and could also be used for plugging and abandonment work.
The sixth-generation rig features the GM4-D design, DP3 dynamic positioning and an eight-point mooring system, and was originally specified for operations in water depths of 500 meters and drilling depths of 8,000 meters.
Reactivation activities have already partially begun ahead of Odfjell Drilling assuming management of the rig.
"We are delighted to support the owners of the Beacon Pacific and Serica Energy on this exciting project and look forward to expanding our fleet to nine high-spec harsh environment drilling rigs. The Beacon Pacific is similar in capability and specification to the Deepsea Yantai, which we have been managing for many years now," added Kjetil Gjersdal, Chief Executive Officer of Odfjell Drilling.
