BW Offshore in partnership for equity financing of Barossa FPSO

FPSO operator BW Offshore has entered into a partnership with international global infrastructure investors for the equity financing of the FPSO for the Barossa gas field offshore Australia.

The Barossa field, located 300 kilometres offshore Darwin, is operated by Santos on behalf of the Upstream Joint Venture partners. BW won the contract for the construction, connection, and operation of the FPSO for the Barossa field back in March 2021. The FID for the project was taken days after the contract award to BW.

As reported earlier this month, BW also completed the $1.15 billion project debt financing for the construction and operation of the Barossa FPSO. The combined construction and long-term debt facility was provided by a syndicate of nine international banks.

The Barossa FPSO services contract has an initial production period of 15 years, with options to extend the production period (in the aggregate) for a further 10 years. The contract value based on the initial production period of 15 years is $4.6 billion.

BW said on Friday that the Barossa FPSO will be financed by a 14-year combined construction and long-term debt facility of $1.15 billion and $240 million from the equity joint venture, as well as approximately $1 billion in pre-payments by Santos and the Barossa Upstream Joint Venture Partners during the construction period.

BW Offshore will be responsible for the engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and operation of the FPSO. The vessel will be turret moored with a newbuild hull based on BW Offshore’s RapidFramework design, allowing for concurrent hull construction and topside integration by removing interdependencies during the construction phase.

Dyna-Mac was hired by BW Offshore in May to build the topside modules. Initial gas production from the FPSO is expected during the first half of 2025.

The joint venture agreement has been signed by all parties and completion of the agreement is subject to certain customary regulatory approvals, which are expected within the next month.

The JV shareholding includes BW Offshore with 51 per cent, ICMK Offshore Investment (a 50:50 JV of ITOCHU Corporation and a subsidiary of Meiji Shipping) with 25 per cent, and Macquarie Bank with the remaining 24 per cent interest.