Wheels in motion to prolong BW Offshore FPSO’s North Sea gig

Norway’s FPSO operator BW Offshore has confirmed the lay of the land for the extension of a contract for a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel beyond the currently fixed term. This unit is working in the UK sector of the North Sea.

Months after signing a new $200 million three-and-a-half-year facility to refinance its existing senior secured credit facility for the FPSO Catcher, BW Offshore highlighted that the seven-year fixed term contract for the FPSO is being extended beyond the fixed period, thanks to extension options for an additional 18 years.

While the original seven-year base term of the contract expires on January 6, 2025, this deal is subject to a rolling 12-month termination right from January 6, 2024. Until such a termination notice is received, the contract automatically extends on a day-to-day basis beyond January 6, 2025, into the option period, according to the Norwegian player.

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 kilometers from Aberdeen in water depths of around 90 meters.

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 fields. 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 FPSO Catcher started production in 2018 on a fixed contract 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. The Catcher field partnership is made up of Harbour Energy (50%), Waldorf CNS (I) Limited, Waldorf Production UK PLC (40%), and ONE-Dyas E&P Limited (10%).

BW Offshore is working on expanding the niche oil and gas segment by redeploying existing FPSOs and divesting non-core assets. The firm has already sold multiple FPSOs, including Sendje Berge, Espoir Ivoirien, BW Athena, BW Opportunity, Cidade de São Vicente, and BW Joko Tole.