BW Offshore's Abo FPSO Gets to Stay with Eni in Nigeria Until March End

FPSO leasing firm BW Offshore has signed another short-term extension for Abo FPSO offshore Nigeria.

The contract extension is with Nigerian Agip Exploration Ltd, a subsidiary of the Italian oil firm Eni. The extension runs until March 31, 2023.

This extension follows a shorter extension announced on January 2. BW Offshore said at the time that the short-term extension would allow time to finalize terms for a further contract extension.

To remind, Eni had, in January 2022, extended its contract for BW Offshore's Abo floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel for one year.

At the time, it was said that, under the extension, the FPSO, used for production from the Abo field offshore Nigeria, would remain on the contract until the end of the fourth quarter of 2022, with options until the second quarter of 2023. 

The FPSO contract was previously extended by one year in January 2020 and again in January 2021.

The Abo FPSO, converted by Keppel from the 1976-built single-hull Suezmax tanker Grey Warrior, was previously owned by Prosafe. According to World Energy Reports data, it began producing in 2003.

Spread-moored, the FPSO has the capacity to produce 44,000 barrels a day of oil and has a gas compression capacity of 48.4 mmscfd. The FPSO can store 930,000 barrels of oil.

BW Offshore did not say what the plan was for the FPSO beyond the March 31 date.

It's worth noting that the FPSO's owner stated in November that it was in "divestment dialogues" for Abo FPSO, Espoir Ivoirien FPSO, and Sendje Berge FPSO, with a goal of closing in the first half of 2023.