BW Energy brings online Tortue Phase 2 project off Gabon

Oil and gas company BW Energy has started production from the Tortue Phase 2 field development on the Dussafu Marin license located offshore Gabon.

BW Energy kicked off its 2021 Gabon drilling campaign with the spudding of the Hibiscus Extension well (DHIBM-2), on the Dussafu Marin permit, in April 2021, using the Borr Norve jack-up drilling rig.

It was the first well in the three-well campaign planned on Dussafu during 2021, but it did not encounter hydrocarbons in the target Gamba reservoir.

Following the DHIBM-2 well, the Borr Norve jack-up continued drilling operations on the horizontal production well, DTM-7H, at the Tortue field. The drilling of this final horizontal production well was completed according to plan in July 2021.

As part of the Tortue Phase 2 field development, the hook-up of the final two production wells DTM-6H and DTM-7H has now been completed and handover to production operations made.

BW reported on Wednesday that the Gamba well DTM-7H was successfully brought online as of 19 October. The second well, DTM-6H in the Dentale formation, is scheduled to come on stream in the coming days. Current production prior to the two new production wells is around 11,500 barrels of oil per day.

The Tortue development consists of six production wells, tied back to the FPSO BW Adolo. The completion of the DTM-6H and DTM-7H wells were suspended last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This concludes the Tortue Phase 2 project with zero HSSE incidents.

“The Tortue Phase 2 development was completed below budget and within the revised timeframe. We look forward to the production growth following first oil from the two wells. Operationally we will now focus on stabilisation of the production and wrapping up the project activities”, said Carl K. Arnet, the CEO of BW Energy.

According to BW, gross production from the Tortue field averaged approximately 9,000 barrels of oil per day in the third quarter of 2021, amounting to a total gross production of 0.8 million barrels of oil for the period. The decrease in production compared to the second quarter of 2021 was mainly due to plant shutdowns and temporary operational issues. The previously communicated shortage of gas lifting capacity also impacted production. A nitrogen generation unit has been installed on BW Adolo, which has significantly improved production efficiency.

As previously guided, there were no BW Energy liftings in the quarter. Production cost (excluding royalties) was approximately $36 per barrel. While the absolute production cost remained stable, the unit cost expressed reflects the lower production rate realised in the third quarter. The overall production cost includes approximately $1.5 million of costs related to the continued handling of the COVID-19 pandemic through the period.

Third-quarter revenue is expected to reflect approximately 195,000 barrels of quarterly Domestic Market Obligation (DMO) deliveries with an under-lift position of around 203,000 barrels at the end of the period.

BW Energy had a cash balance of $170 million on 30 September 2021, compared to $216 million on 30 June 2021. The decrease is mainly due to investment activities related to Tortue Phase 2, progress on the Hibiscus/Ruche project, as well as completing the exploration drilling campaign in Dussafu.

In September 2021, BW revealed that preliminary results from its Hibiscus North exploration well (DHBNM-1), located in the Dussafu Block, indicate reserves below the lower end of the pre-drill resource estimate, but the discovery could be tied back to the Hibiscus/Ruche development.

Pending further analysis, the preliminary results indicate that the field could be incorporated into future development planning with a possible tie back to the Hibiscus Ruche development but with reserves below the lower end of the pre-drill resource estimate of potential 10 to 40 million barrels of oil.