Release: Serica Energy announces temporary re-sale restrictions on new ordinary shares

TORONTO, Dec. 16, 2005 -- Serica Energy PLC, an international oil and gas exploration company, announced today that on December 13, 2005, the Company issued 67,368,421 new ordinary shares which were, together with the 75,180,159 existing ordinary shares of the Company, admitted to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange. Serica's ordinary shares are also quoted in Canada on the TSX Venture Exchange.

Due to Canadian re-sale restrictions, unless specifically permitted by Canadian securities legislation, the 67,368,421 new ordinary shares in the Company may not be traded in Canada before April 14, 2006. In order to prevent any potential breach of Canadian securities legislation, Serica has instructed its UK registrar not to transfer any ordinary shares in the Company from the UK register to the Canadian register prior to April 14, 2006. Serica shareholders, however, may transfer ordinary shares in the Company from the Canadian register to the UK register without restriction. (end of release)

About Serica Energy PLC
Serica Energy PLC is an international oil & gas exploration and production company with primary activities in Indonesia, the UK North Sea and Spain. It currently has offices in Singapore, Jakarta and the United Kingdom. For more information, please visit the Company website, www.serica-energy.com.