BW Energy has secured $208 million in long-term lease financing for the Akoum wellhead platform (WHP) planned for its Bourdon oil field development offshore Gabon, alongside an 18-month extension of its $250 million corporate revolving credit facility.
The project-level lease agreement with Minsheng Financial Leasing (MSFL) covers the full capital expenditure of the platform, which is being converted from the Akoum drilling rig into a 12-slot wellhead facility for installation at Bourdon.
The agreement replaces previously announced short-term financing and has a firm term of eight years, with an option to extend for another four years, giving it a potential duration of 12 years.
Lease costs will be shared among the partners in the BW Energy-operated Dussafu licence according to their participating interests, with BW Energy accounting for 73.5%. Ownership of the platform will transfer to the license at the end of the lease.
BW Energy said the conversion of the Akoum rig is progressing according to plan, with first oil from Bourdon targeted for the first quarter of 2028.
The company sanctioned the Bourdon Phase 1 development in May 2026, approximately 14 months after the discovery, targeting gross proved and probable (2P) reserves of 25 million barrels of oil equivalent, almost entirely oil.
The development will initially produce from three wells, with the converted platform's 12 well slots providing capacity for additional development phases in the area.
The Dussafu licence is operated by BW Energy with a 73.5% working interest, alongside Panoro Energy with 17.5% and Gabon Oil Company with 9%.
“The Bourdon development is a great example of what our business model can deliver. Fourteen months from discovery to FID, and now the full infrastructure cost financed long term at an attractive cost of capital, without upfront equity,” said Thomas Young, BW Energy Chief Financial Officer.
Separately, BW Energy exercised an option to extend its $250 million revolving credit facility with DNB Bank by 18 months, moving its maturity to August 2028 without changing the existing terms.
The company said the extension would provide additional financial flexibility for ongoing field development activities and general corporate purposes.
Bourdon forms part of BW Energy's broader production growth plans, alongside an infill drilling programme in Brazil's Golfinho and Camarupim licenses, also sanctioned in May.
Together, the developments are expected to support BW Energy's target of increasing net production to more than 100,000 barrels per day in 2028 and sustaining that level into the following decade.