Oil and gas company BW Energy has started drilling the first production well on the Hibiscus / Ruche Phase 1 development in the Dussafu Block offshore Gabon.
The company said Monday that drilling operations had started in the first week of January. First oil is expected in March 2023.
BW Energy is using the Borr Norve jack-up drilling rig for the operation.
The first production well, DHIBM-3H, targets the Gamba sandstone reservoir on the Hibiscus field and is expected to take just over two months to drill and complete.
Installation of flexible pipelines and risers, completing the 20-kilometer connection between the BW MaBoMo production facility and the FPSO BW Adolo FPSO, was finalized last week.
"We are on track for first oil towards the end of the first quarter. This will be the first step of many on a path for successive production growth as we complete the drilling Hibiscus / Ruche Phase 1 program and asset upgrades through 2023 and into early 2024," said Carl Krogh Arnet, the CEO of BW Energy.
The initial Hibiscus / Ruche Phase 1 drilling campaign targets the Hibiscus and Ruche fields which are expected to add approximately 30,000 barrels per day of total oil production when all wells are completed in early 2024.
The new gas lift compressor to support production for the six existing Tortue wells was lifted onboard the BW Adolo in December. Installation work is ongoing.
Commissioning and start-up of the compressor is expected to start immediately after first oil from Hibiscus / Ruche which has priority during the current high-activity period onboard the FPSO, BW Energy said.
