BW Offshore Dussafu sidetrack well finds more oil (Gabon)

BW Offshore has found more oil offshore Gabon following the drilling of the Ruche North East sidetrack well located in the Dussafu Marin PSC.

The Dussafu license is operated by BW Energy Gabon (BWEG), which holds a 91.667 percent interest, while Panoro holds an 8.333 percent interest as a partner. BW Energy is a subsidiary of BW Offshore.

BW Offshore said on Thursday that it completed the Ruche North East (DRNEM-1) appraisal well which encountered 40 meters of pay in the Gamba and Dentale formations in the original wellbore.

The company added that the discovery was further appraised through a sidetrack well, named DRNEM-1ST1, to delineate the discovery.

The sidetrack well was drilled approximately 800 meters northwest of the original wellbore and encountered 34 meters of pay in the Gamba and Dentale formation.

Rig released

According to BW, this will conclude all drilling operations in the Dussafu License for 2018 and the Borr Drilling-owned Borr Norve jack-up drilling rig used to drill the wells has been released.

Carl K. Arnet, CEO of BW Offshore, said: “The positive results of the Ruche North East well further confirms the upside potential for the Dussafu License. By combining our deep knowledge of the area, our resources, and a well-suited FPSO, we are about to transform the Dussafu license into a significant producing asset with considerable upside.”

It is worth noting that the objective of the DRNEM-1 was to identify additional resources, which will be aggregated with the existing Ruche discovery and form the basis for future development.

As previously reported, BW Offshore began production from Tortue Phase 1 into the BW Adolo FPSO earlier this month. The company is evaluating the Tortue Phase 2 development project with final investment decision scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2018. The internal estimate of 2P gross reserves for the Tortue field Phase 1 (two wells) and Phase 2 (four wells) are between 30 to 40 mmbls, excluding contingent reserves.

In a separate announcement, John Hamilton, CEO of Panoro, said: “We are very pleased by this positive appraisal sidetrack which demonstrates the materiality of the resources base on the entire Dussafu permit. With Tortue Phase 1 now in production, and planning for Phase 2 underway, the successive Ruche area discoveries provide the basis for future development phases to unlock the full potential of Dussafu over the next 20 years.”