The company made a profit of $26.9m from disposal of assets in South East Asia.

Chairman Tony Craven Walker said the company's strategy to control exploration costs had been successful.

'In 2009 we drilled the Bandon, Chablis and Tuong Vi wells in Ireland, the UK and Vietnam respectively with a large part of our costs paid by third parties.

'The first two of these encountered hydrocarbons, albeit non-commercial, but the result at Bandon holds out promise for this very underexplored basin offshore the west coast of Ireland in which we have now demonstrated the presence of oil. We plan to drill further wells offshore Ireland in 2011.'

Year-end cash balances stood at $18.4m, with debt at $71m. In January 2010, cash balances increased following the receipt of $100m outstanding from the partial sale of the Kambuna and Kutai interests in Indonesia and disposal of the company's stake in Vietnam. As a result, it was now in a net cash position.

CEO Paul Ellis said, '2009 was a significant year for Serica with key milestones achieved. Kambuna came on-stream, the culmination of four years of hard work, and the company continued to actively manage its portfolio by mitigating risks, gaining new acreage and monetising assets when we believed it was the best time to do so.'

The company was about to start an exploration programme with the potential to deliver significant upside to shareholders.