Oil and gas company BW Energy has agreed to buy Saipem's Cidade de Vitoria FPSO for $73 million in cash. The vessel is currently owned by Saipem and operated for Petrobras in the Golfinho field offshore Brazil.
The sale and purchase of the FPSO is subject to the closing of the acquisition by BW Energy of the 100% operating working interest in the Golfinho field from Petrobras expected to occur in the first quarter 2023. The Cidade de Vitória FPSO has been under a lease and operation contract to Petrobras since 2005.
"The transaction will accelerate BW Energy’s build-up of a local operating organisation in Brazil and increase stakeholder engagement ahead of the Maromba development," BW Energy said.
The FPSO Cidade de Vitoria has 1.6 million barrels of storage capacity. The unit can produce more than 100k barrels per day of oil and has additional capacity for gas production and compression.
"[The FPSO Cidade de Vitoria] positions BW Energy to efficiently increase production from the Golfinho cluster with ample oil and gas handling capacity to accommodate the upside from planned future developments. The FPSO acquisition will enable BW Energy to reduce the whole field OPEX," the company said.
BW Energy will pay Saipem USD 73 million in fixed consideration for the FPSO of which USD 25 million is due at closing, USD 13 million due at FPSO takeover and USD 35 million paid in 18 monthly instalments following the takeover.
Considering the terms of the Golfinho transaction, the current lease and operate contract between Saipem and Petrobras - which would have expired in February 2023 - has been extended until the FPSO takeover, or June 2024, whichever comes first.
To remind, Petrobras last week agreed to sell its entire stake in the Golfinho and Camarupim deepwater oil fields for up to $75 million to BW Energy Ltd.
Located off the coast of Brazil's southeastern Espirito Santo state, Golfinho produced 8,600 barrels of oil and 90,000 cubic meters of gas per day on average this year, Reuters reported.