BW Energy's Freshly Converted Jack-up En Route to Gabon

Credit: MASHKA/AdobeStock
Credit: MASHKA/AdobeStock

Oslo-listed oil and gas company BW Energy said Tuesday that its BW MaBoMo offshore production facility had sailed away towards Gabon.

The production facility, converted from the Hibiscus Alpha jack-up drilling rig, is currently onboard a heavy-lift vessel in transit to the Dussafu license offshore Gabon, where it will be installed to produce oil from the Hibiscus and Ruche fields.

The BW MaBoMo is expected to arrive on the field at the end of September for installation and hook-up with first oil planned late in the first quarter of 2023. 

The Hibiscus / Ruche development is expected to add up to 30,000 barrels per day of gross production once all the initial six horizontal production wells are on stream.

The platform left the Lamprell yard in Dubai on August 8, following completion of the yard scope with some minor outstanding upgrades, which were executed offshore in preparation for the sail away, BW Energy said. Credit: BW Energy

The conversion project used approximately 1.9 million manhours with zero LTIs. The BW MaBoMo is a former jack-up drilling rig which has been repurposed as an offshore production facility with 12 well slots. It will be connected to the BW Adolo FPSO via a 20 km pipeline.

“By repurposing existing oil and gas production assets, we extend their economic lifespan, and shorten the time to first oil while also significantly reducing the field development investments and CO2 footprint. We are very pleased to have completed the conversion project with excellent HSE results and only minor adjustments to schedule and budget in a highly challenging environment due to COVID-19, supply chain disturbances, geopolitical tension and commodity inflation,” said Carl K. Arnet, the CEO of BW Energy.

The Hibiscus Alpha is one of two jack-up rigs BW Energy bought for conversion from Borr Drilling in 2020.

BW Energy acquired two cold-stacked, 2003-built sister units, “Atla” and “Balder,” for $14.5 million in total.

“A jack-up conversion will enable us to reduce capital investments by about USD 100 million compared to our previous development plan,” BW Energy CEO said in 2020.

The company last year also agreed to buy the semi-submersible drilling rig "Leo" from Aquadrill, a Seadrill affiliate, to use as a production unit for offshore field development in Namibia. Read More Here.


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