BW Offshore secures $200 million financing for North Sea FPSO

Norway’s FPSO operator BW Offshore has signed a new $200 million three-and-a-half-year facility, refinancing its existing senior secured credit facility for a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, working in the UK sector of the North Sea.

According to BW Offshore, the new facility for the FPSO Catcher, which is provided by a consortium of seven international banks, is priced at a margin of 225 basis points above USD SOFR. The closing of the facility is expected to take place shortly after the completion of conditions precedent.

BW Offshore owns and operates the FPSO Catcher, which is carrying out operations at the Harbour Energy-operated Catcher field in block 28/9a of the UK central North Sea, approximately 174 kilometres from Aberdeen in water depths of around 90 metres.

The Catcher discovery was made by an exploration well drilled in May 2010. The production in this area is achieved through 20 subsea wells on Catcher, Varadero, and Burgman. These are a combination of production and water injection wells, which are tied back to this FPSO. The first oil was delivered from Catcher in December 2017, Varadero in January 2018 and Burgman in May 2018. The oil is offloaded by tankers and gas is reinjected into the reservoir.

The current contract for the FPSO Catcher started in 2018 and is valid until 2025 with options to extend the deal up to 2043. This FPSO has an oil processing capacity of 60,000 bbl/d, a gas handling capacity of 60 mmscfd, a water injection capacity of 125,000 bbl/d, and a storage capacity of 650,000 bbl.

BW Offshore is putting the wheels into motion to expand the niche oil and gas segment by redeploying existing FPSOs and divesting non-core assets. The firm already sold multiple FPSOs, including Sendje Berge, Espoir Ivoirien, BW Athena, BW Opportunity, Cidade de São Vicente, and BW Joko Tole. In addition, the FPSO operator expects the recycling of the FPSO Petróleo Nautipa late in 2023.