TEHRAN - The U.S. Treasury has extended a license for Serica Energy to operate the Rhum gas field in the North Sea which is 50 percent owned by National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), Serica announced in a statement.

The two-year waiver by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) allows companies such as oilfield service providers to work on the field despite the National Iranian Oil Company being targeted by U.S. sanctions.

A one-year waiver was first granted in October 2018 after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic after pulling out of an international nuclear deal. The waiver was extended in October 2019 for another two-year period.

Rhum was the third largest gas-producing field in the British North Sea in the second quarter of 2019, Serica CEO Mitch Flegg said.

Serica owns 50 percent of the Rhum field, which it acquired from British Petroleum last year. Iran’s share of the revenue from the field goes into an escrow account.

EF/MA