REG - Centrica PLC - Sale of Cygnus, GMA & Southern North Sea interests

CentricaAnnouncement

16/12/2025 07:00

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RNS Number : 7368L  Centrica PLC  16 December 2025

16 December 2025

 

 

Centrica plc

Sale of Cygnus, Greater Markham Area and Southern North Sea interests

Centrica plc ("Centrica") is pleased to announce the sale of Spirit Energy
Limited's ("Spirit Energy" or "Spirit") remaining 15% interest in the Cygnus
gas field(1), and all other producing assets in the Greater Markham Area(2)
and Southern North Sea(3), to Serica Energy plc ("Serica").

 

The total value of the transaction to Spirit Energy is approximately £98
million, including headline consideration of £57 million and the transfer of
£41 million of decommissioning liabilities. Centrica's 69% share of headline
consideration is expected to be £39 million. The disposal has a commercial
effective date of 1 January 2025 and is expected to complete in the second
half of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals and with customary interim
period adjustments to be applied.

 

As with the sale of 46.25% of Spirit's interest in Cygnus which was completed
in early October, this transaction is strongly aligned with Centrica's focus
on maximising value as it continues to reposition its infrastructure
portfolio, delivering attractive upfront cash consideration and transferring
long-term decommissioning liabilities.

 

This disposal will result in the Morecambe Hub(4) becoming Spirit's principal
producing asset, with total retained reserves of 9.0mmboe(5). Spirit's primary
focus will remain on the development of the Morecambe Net Zero(6) carbon
storage project, alongside safely and efficiently decommissioning its
facilities and wells with minimum environmental impact.

 

Chris O'Shea, Group Chief Executive of Centrica and Chairman of Spirit Energy,
said:

"Our focus at Centrica is on creating value. By recycling capital we're
unlocking new investment opportunities in the UK and elsewhere, and
accelerating the energy transition - delivering the energy needed today and
powering tomorrow's ambitions by energising a greener, fairer future.

 

"This disposal generates value for our shareholders, is a significant step in
streamlining Centrica's portfolio, and will focus Spirit on developing the
option to invest in Europe's largest carbon storage project at Morecambe Net
Zero. These material UK investment opportunities will however depend upon
having a regulatory framework, and a regulator, which is fit for purpose."

 

Enquiries:

Investors and Analysts:  email: ir@centrica.com (mailto:ir@centrica.com)

Media:
email: media@centrica.com (mailto:media@centrica.com)
              tel: +44 (0)1784
843000

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes:

1.     Cygnus is located in the Southern North Sea, approximately 150km
east of the Lincolnshire coast. On 1(st) October 2025 it was announced that
Spirit Energy had completed the sale of 46.25% of its interest in Cygnus to
Ithaca Energy plc, the operator of the field, for headline consideration of
£116m.

2.     The Greater Markham Area hub spans the UK and Dutch Continental
Shelves, and comprises the Spirit Energy-operated Markham (37.5% Spirit
interest), Chiswick (100% Spirit interest), Grove (92.5% Spirit interest) and
Kew (100% Spirit interest) fields, along with the non-operated J3c (4.03%
Spirit interest) field and other fields in which Spirit has no ownership
interest.

3.     The Southern North Sea producing assets to be disposed of are the
Spirit-operated fields of Ceres (90% Spirit interest) and Eris (54% Spirit
interest), and the non-operated Clipper South (25% Spirit interest) and
Galleon (8.4% Spirit interest) fields.

4.     The Morecambe Hub comprises three fields in the East Irish Sea -
North Morecambe, South Morecambe and Rhyl. Spirit Energy has a 100% interest
in each of the fields.

5.     Spirit Energy's 2P reserves as at 31(st) December 2024 will be
reduced by 15.7mmboe (approximately 911mmth of gas, 0.5mmboe of Natural Gas
Liquids (NGLs)) on a 100% basis to reflect the interests disposed.

Retained Spirit Energy 2P reserves of 9.0mmboe (approximately 489mmth of gas,
0.8mmboe of NGLs) on a 100% basis as at 31(st) December 2024 includes 0.7mmboe
associated with the Brae field.
Full year 2024 production (100% basis) from the retained assets was 3.7mmboe
(approximately 185mmth of gas, 0.7mmboe NGLs).

6.     The Morecambe Net Zero carbon storage project will repurpose the
depleted South and North Morecambe gas fields off the coast of
Barrow-in-Furness into a world-leading carbon storage facility, able to accept
up to 1 gigaton of CO(2) through its 40-year lifetime, the equivalent of three
years of total UK CO(2) emissions.

 

 

 

Centrica plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (CNA)

Registered Office: Millstream, Maidenhead Road, Windsor, Berkshire SL4 5GD

Registered in England & Wales number: 3033654

Legal Entity Identifier number: E26EDV109X6EEPBKVH76

ISIN number: GB00B033F229

 

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