Wood Wins Five-Year UK North Sea Framework Contract with Serica Energy
Key Takeaways
- •Wood has secured a five-year EPCC framework agreement from Serica Energy to help extend the Bruce platform's operational life beyond 2030.
- •Serica expects to sign a rig contract shortly, with the first new Bruce wells since 2012 scheduled to spud in the third quarter of 2027.
- •Serica operates Bruce with a 98% interest, and the hub averaged 18,100 boepd net to the company in the first half of 2026.
- •A first phase of infill wells could add more than 10,000 boepd, with first hydrocarbons possible roughly a year after drilling begins.
- •The programme's pace depends on the pending rig contract, final investment decisions on successive phases, and the UK fiscal and regulatory environment.
Wood has secured a five-year engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) framework agreement from Serica Energy, aimed at extending the operational life of the Bruce platform in the UK North Sea beyond 2030.
Under the agreement, the Aberdeen-based contractor will deliver project execution, offshore construction and commissioning services. The contract builds on a working relationship between the two companies that dates back to 2018. No contract value has been disclosed.
The award comes as Serica prepares to resume drilling at Bruce for the first time since 2012. In its latest half-year results, the London-listed operator said it expects to sign a rig contract shortly, with the first new wells — Bruce SCE and SCW — scheduled to spud in the third quarter of 2027.
The deal reflects a broader pattern among UK North Sea operators of awarding long-term framework agreements to a single contractor as a way to manage costs on late-life assets, where squeezing out incremental production extensions and infill drilling is central to field economics as basins mature. For service firms such as Wood, which have repositioned toward asset life-extension and brownfield work in recent years, framework awards of this kind provide a pipeline of recurring work without relying on large new-build projects.
Serica operates the Bruce field with a 98% stake. The hub, which also handles production from the Keith and Rhum fields, averaged 18,100 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) net to Serica in the first half of 2026.
The company has identified a first phase of infill wells with the potential to add more than 10,000 boepd, with first hydrocarbons possible around one year after drilling begins. If realised, that uplift would roughly offset the natural decline of the mature hub, where Bruce first began production in 1993. The pace of the programme, however, depends on the pending rig contract, Serica's final investment decisions on successive infill phases, and the fiscal and regulatory environment for UK offshore operators — factors worth watching as the 2027 spud date approaches.
Source: Splash247
