Things were really looking up for North Sea oil and gas producer Serica Energy (SQZ:AIM) in May.

On 14 May, the firm announced that Chris Cox, formerly chief executive of Spirit Energy and currently a director at Caspian Basin-focused Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG), would bring his considerable expertise and M&A know-how to the business starting in July.

On 20 May, the company said it had received the final go-ahead to develop the Belinda field, the fifth well in its Triton area, containing proven and probable reserves in the region of five million barrels of oil equivalent, with production due to start in early 2026.

Just two days later, prime minister Rishi Sunak called an early general election, raising the possibility Labour could form the next government and put a freeze on all new development in the North Sea as well as raising windfall taxes on fossil-fuel companies’ profits to fund the ‘energy transition’.

Together with its partners the firm has now delayed production at the Buchan field, considered by analysts to be one of the most attractive undeveloped reserves in the North Sea in terms of scale and low risk, adding to the gloom. 

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