Norway's BW Energy nearing 40,000 b/d target from Gabon oil assets

Oslo-listed BW Energy and its partners will hit 40,000 b/d of oil output at their Dussafu license off Gabon by the end of this year in a boost to the oil-dependent country, after completing the last of an eight-well drilling campaign.

In a statement released Oct. 22, junior partner Panoro, also based in Norway, said the partners had expanded the campaign to eight wells to “accommodate fast-track development” of two new discoveries announced in May on the Hibiscus field.

Five of the eight wells are currently on stream, in addition to six pre-existing wells at the neighboring Tortue field, putting the partners “within touching distance of the targeted gross rate of 40,000 b/d from the block,” John Hamilton, Panoro’s CEO, was quoted as saying.

Third-quarter crude output at Dussafu averaged 27,465 b/d, Panoro said after the DHIBM-7H well was drilled on the Hibiscus Northern Flank discovery and put on stream in early October. Each well produces roughly 6,000 b/d, the companies said previously.

Meanwhile, the two new discoveries have added some 23.1 million barrels of gross 2P reserves in the license, Panoro said.

The Borr Norve jackup rig is set to complete workover programs on certain wells, which will take output to 40,000 b/d, this year, Panoro said.

BW Energy, which also holds stakes in other Gabonese, Brazilian and Namibian oil and gas assets, confirmed the year-end target in a statement of its own Oct. 22.

Then, in early 2025, the partners will drill the DBM-1 well on the Bourdon prospect, which has an estimated 30 million barrels of gross recoverable reserves in the same Gamba and Dentale formations that are present in the Hibiscus field, BW Energy said.

The first well came on stream in mid-2023. BW holds a 73.5% operating stake in the license, alongside Panoro’s 17.5% and Gabon Oil Company with 9%.

Oil produced in the Dussafu license is transported by pipeline to the FPSO BW Adolo for processing and storage before being loaded for export.

The key customers for Gabon’s crude are China, Indonesia and Israel, according to data from S&P Global Commodities at Sea.

Gabon, an OPEC member, has seen production stagnate in recent years due to underinvestment and technical issues at ageing fields, although production was 41,000 b/d above its quota in September at 210,000 b/d, according to the Platts OPEC Survey from S&P Global Commodity Insights.

The Dussafu campaign has been a ray of light for Gabon’s oil sector.

The West African country -- which saw longtime president Ali Bongo deposed in a coup in August 2023 -- is heavily reliant on oil revenues.

In June, with financial support from trading house Gunvor, the state-owned Gabon Oil Company took over Assala Energy’s 40,000 b/d oil assets from US private equity firm Carlyle, pre-empting an acquisition by French firm Maurel & Prom.