Serica Energy CEO Flegg to depart after six years at the helm

(Reuters) -Serica Energy Chief Executive Mitch Flegg is leaving the company after six years in the role, the British oil and gas group said on Thursday, adding that Chairman David Latin will step in as interim CEO.

The change will take place after the company's 2023 earnings are published, expected to be in mid-April, the company said without disclosing a reason for Flegg's departure.

Shares in Serica, which has expanded production sharply through acquisitions and investments in recent years, fell by about 3% after the announcement.

Flegg's departure marks the independent producer's third top leadership change in the past 10 months, having replaced its chairman and chief financial officer last year.

Tony Craven Walker, a pioneer of British North Sea oil, stepped down as chairman last June after 18 years in the role. Experienced oil and gas adviser Martin Copeland succeeded Andy Bell as CFO.

"The company is now in a new stage of evolution, arguably Serica 3.0, building from greater scale post-Tailwind acquisition in 2023 and with a new executive management team taking shape to drive this next evolution with both organic development and M&A ambitions," Jefferies analysts wrote.

In late 2022 Serica agreed to buy North Sea rival Tailwind Energy Investments for 644 million pounds ($782 million), bringing on energy trader Mercuria as its biggest investor as part of the deal.

Serica's production grew to more than 49,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) in the first half of 2023, LSEG data shows, up from 26,000 boed in 2022.

In January last year, Flegg told Reuters that the acquisition left Serica with a large cash position of more than 300 million pounds, allowing it to make further acquisitions.

(Reporting by Deep Vakil and Eva Mathews in BengaluruEditing by Rashmi Aich and David Goodman)