Drilling ops bear fruit: Start-up of another well offshore Gabon on BW Energy’s 2024 agenda

Oslo-listed oil and gas E&P player BW Energy is planning to bring online another well within the Dussafu license off the coast of Gabon, following the confirmation of hydrocarbons during drilling activities that were undertaken with a jack-up rig owned by Borr Drilling, an offshore drilling contractor.

After the start-up of production at the Hibiscus South field where the DHBSM-1H production well was put on stream in March, Borr Drilling’s Norve jack-up rig began drilling operations on the DHBSM-2P pilot well to test a possible northeastern extension of the field.

BW Energy plans to complete the well as a production one later this year since the pilot well has confirmed that the Hibiscus South deposit extends into the northern part of the field with good reservoir quality, increasing reserve estimates.

This well was drilled to a total depth of 5,130 meters from the MaBoMo production platform, for which the firm signed a sale and lease back agreement with Minsheng Financial Leasing Co (MSFL) a few days ago. The target area is approximately 3.2 kilometers west-northwest of the MaBoMo facility and was drilled by the Norve jack-up rig.

According to BW Energy, the evaluation of logging data, sample examination and formation pressure measurements confirm around 25 meters of pay in an overall hydrocarbon column of 35 meters in the Gamba formation. Therefore, the well data confirms that the Hibiscus South structure is a separate accumulation with a deeper oil-water contact than the nearby Hibiscus field.

As a result, this is expected to enable BW Energy to book additional reserves not currently included in its annual statement of reserves and provide the opportunity to drill one or more additional production wells from the MaBoMo facility. The preliminary evaluation indicates gross recoverable reserves of 5 to 6 million barrels of oil and about 14 million barrels of oil in place.

Carl K. Arnet, CEO of BW Energy, commented: “We continue to increase the production and reserve base through low-cost and low-risk development activity in line with BW Energy’s strategy. The Hibiscus South pilot well is another confirmation of the significant potential of the Dussafu licence which holds multiple additional prospects.”

BW Energy’s Hibiscus/Ruche development project, located about 20 kilometers northwest of the Tortue field, targets the Hibiscus and Ruche fields in Gabon. The oil produced at the project is transported by pipeline to the FPSO BW Adolo for processing and storage before being offloaded to export tankers.