BW Energy

BW Energy wins two blocks in core areas off Gabon

Oil and gas company BW Energy, in partnership with Vaalco Energy and Panoro Energy, has been awarded two exploration blocks offshore Gabon, close to its Dussafu licence and within tie-back distance of existing infrastructure.

BW Energy

According to its update on Monday, BW has been provisionally awarded operatorship of two blocks in the 12th Offshore Licensing Round in Gabon by the Direction Generale des Hydrocarbures (DGH). The award is subject to finalising the production sharing contracts (PSC) with the DGH.

Map of the G12-13 and H12-13 blocks  - BW Energy
Map of the G12-13 and H12-13 blocks

The two blocks, G12-13 and H12-13, are adjacent to BW Energy’s Dussafu licence offshore Southern Gabon. The blocks cover an area of 2,989 km2 and 1,929 km2, respectively.

The blocks will be held by a consortium composed of BW Energy as the operator (37.5 per cent) with Vaalco Energy (37.5 per cent) and Panoro Energy (25 per cent) as non-operating joint venture partners. The PSCs will have an exploration period totalling eight years which may be extended by a further two years.

The partners have committed to drilling exploration wells on the blocks during the exploration period and intend to carry out a 3D seismic acquisition campaign on both blocks.

As pointed out by BW, the consortium is uniquely positioned with BW Energy and Panoro Energy as joint venture partners in the Dussafu PSC and with Vaalco Energy as the operator of the adjacent Etame PSC. The consortium members have over the past 15 years undertaken successful exploration, development, and production projects on both the Dussafu and Etame, wherein total, approximately 250 million barrels have been discovered to date and multiple fields put into production.

Back in September, BW revealed that preliminary results from its Hibiscus North exploration well, located in the Dussafu Block, indicate reserves below the lower end of the pre-drill resource estimate, but the discovery could be tied back to the Hibiscus/Ruche development.

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BW Energy, VaalcoEnergy, and Panoro Energy intend to collaborate on implementing operations and leverage the subsurface and production learnings from Etame and Dussafu to deliver competitive solutions for the exploration, development, and monetisation of Gabon’s oil and gas resources.

Carl K. Arnet, CEO of BW Energy, commented: “These blocks are situated in core areas for BW Energy, most within tie-back distance of existing infrastructure with the potential for rapid value creation from future discoveries. As we prepare for additional production coming online from our Hibiscus/Ruche project in 2022, these licence awards, combined with our ongoing development projects, further demonstrate BW Energy’s commitment to Gabon and to our ambitions of growing both production and cash flow.”

John Hamilton, CEO of Panoro, commented: “Blocks G12-13 and H12-13 are a logical and contiguous extension of our footprint in a core area and by forming an exciting partnership with BW Energy and Vaalco Energy, we will be able to leverage our collective experience to mature and high grade the exploration potential on the blocks in the coming years.”