NEO NEXT ends Serica’s acquisition of bp North Sea assets

Per terms of the joint operating agreement between Culzean field partners, the proposed acquisition was subject to a pre-emption period which ran for 30 days,

Alex Procyk

Nov. 11, 2025

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Key Highlights

NEO NEXT ended a proposed acquisition of bp North Sea assets by Serica Energy.
The proposed acquisition included non-operated working interest in P111 and P2544 in the UK Central North Sea.
The acquisition was subject to a pre-emption period where license partners had the option to acquire bp’s stake in the licenses.
NEO NEXT took the pre-emption option.

NEO NEXT Energy Ltd. ended a proposed acquisition of bp-held UK North Sea assets by Serica Energy plc after taking up a right of pre-emption.

On Oct. 13, 2025, Serica signed an agreement to acquire the entirety of bp’s stake in two licenses in the UK Central North Sea.

The proposed acquisition included non-operated working interest in P111, containing Culzean gas condensate field, and P2544, an exploration license adjacent to P111. Culzean field is operated by TotalEnergies.

Per terms of the joint operating agreement between Culzean field partners, the proposed acquisition was subject to a pre-emption period which ran for 30 days, with each field partner (TotalEnergies SE, 49.99%, and NEO NEXT, 18.01%) having the option to acquire bp’s stake in the licenses on the same terms as those agreed by Serica.

Serica said it would continue to pursue further merger and acquisition opportunities.

About the Author

Alex Procyk

Upstream Editor

Alex Procyk is Upstream Editor at Oil & Gas Journal. He has also served as a principal technical professional at Halliburton and as a completion engineer at ConocoPhillips. He holds a BS in chemistry (1987) from Kent State University and a PhD in chemistry (1992) from Carnegie Mellon University. He is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).