GABON – BW Energy, an exploration company, has announced the acquisition of jack-up drilling rigs, the 2003-built sister-units Atla and Balder from Borr Drilling for a total price of US$14.5 million.
BW Energy has also concluded on an alternative development plan for the Hibiscus/Ruche satellite field in the Dussafu license offshore Gabon, utilising a converted jack-up rig to reduce investments and time to first oil.
The seismic reprocessing carried out by BW Energy has indicated the potential for a substantial increase to the Greater Hibiscus oil-in-place volumes, making further developments in the Hibiscus/Ruche area highly likely.
“A jack-up conversion will enable us to reduce capital investments by about US$100 million compared to our previous development plan. We are benefitting from the availability of high-quality jack-up units at very attractive prices due to the current drilling market slump,” Carl Krogh Arnet, CEO, BW Energy.
“Acquiring a sister unit will enable us to re-use the engineering and project plans for a second development with obvious synergies.”
Carl Krogh Arnet – CEO, BW Energy
“By re-using facilities, we will also achieve a substantial reduction in field development related CO2 emissions compared to a newbuild platform. This development concept offers tangible financial, schedule and environmental benefits.
“We have consequently decided to secure a second jack-up at a very attractive price to prepare for the future development of the Dussafu license. Acquiring a sister unit will enable us to re-use the engineering and project plans for a second development with obvious synergies.”
Calculations show that redeployment and conversion projects offer 70%-80% reductions to greenhouse-gas emissions compared to new built assets due to reduced steel consumption and shorter yard stays.
Further tangible benefits are reduced installation cost as a jack-up can “self-install” after mobilisation to the field and no need for piling into the seabed for stability.
The new development plan is expected to lower the estimated cash-break even oil price for the Hibiscus/Ruche (phase 1 and 2) development to approximately US$25 per barrel Brent.
With the planned increased production from Hibiscus/Ruche, the Dussafu license production cost, including the Tortue field, is expected to drop to approximately US$11 per barrel.
A final decision to restart the Hibiscus/Ruche development is subject to a lifting of COVID-19 restrictions to allow for efficient project execution.
The initial FID approved for the Hibiscus/Ruche development was approved in the fourth quarter of 2019 with an estimated gross development cost of about US$660 million for both phases and proven resources (2P) of gross 112 million barrels of recoverable oil.
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