Oil and gas company BW Energy has signed production sharing contracts (PSCs) for the exploration blocks Niosi Marin and Guduma Marin offshore Gabon, in partnership with Panoro Energy and VAALCO Energy.
The blocks, formerly named G12-13 and H12-13, are adjacent to BW Energy’s Dussafu Marin licence offshore southern Gabon, covering a combined area of 4,918 km2.
BW Energy holds 37.5% working interest and is the operator of the blocks, with partners Panoro Energy and VAALCO Energy holding 25% and 37.5% stakes, respectively.
The PSCs have an eight-year exploration period with option to extend for two additional years.
The partners have committed to drilling one well on Niosi Marin during the exploration period and intend to carry out a 3D seismic acquisition campaign.
BW Energy and Panoro Energy are also joint venture partners in the Dussafu PSC, while VAALCO Energy is the operator of the adjacent Etame PSC.
Both Dussafu and Etame Marin continue to be successfully explored and developed by the respective partners with an estimated combined volume over 300 million barrels discovered to date, multiple fields put into production and extensive processing and export infrastructure installed.
“Most of the Niosi Marin and Guduma Marin acreage is within tie-back distance to existing infrastructure, enabling fast-track, low-cost development of future discoveries. We have proven our ability to create significant value in the Dussafu licence, where we are close to completing the first phase of Hibiscus / Ruche to bring production to nameplate capacity of 40,000 barrels per day.
“These licence awards further underpin BW Energy’s commitment to Gabon and clear ambition of growing production and cash flow generation,” said Carl K. Arnet, the CEO of BW Energy.
“Blocks Niosi and Guduma are a logical and contiguous extension of our footprint in a core area where we will be able to leverage our expertise to mature and high grade the exploration potential on the blocks in the coming years,” added John Hamilton, CEO of Panoro.