In its recent update, BW Energy Ltd. announced the discovery of commercially viable oil volumes in the offshore Gabon Hibiscus South satellite prospect.
Operating from the MaBoMo production platform, BW Energy successfully drilled the DHBSM-1 well to a depth of 19,691.6 feet (6,002 metres) using the Borr Norve jack-up rig. The target area, situated around 3.1 miles (5 kilometres) southwest of MaBoMo, revealed promising results in the evaluation of logging data, sample examination, and formation pressure measurements. BW Energy has now confirmed a substantial 65.6 feet (20 metres) of pay within an extensive hydrocarbon column measuring 86.9 feet (26.5 metres) in the Gamba formation.
BW Energy noted that the well data confirms that the Hibiscus South structure is a separate accumulation with a deeper oil-water contact than the nearby Hibiscus Field. The development will enable the company to book additional reserves not currently included in its annual statement of reserves and provide the opportunity to drill one or more additional production wells from the MaBoMo facility. BW Energy added that it plans to complete it as a production well in early 2024.
Preliminary evaluation indicates gross recoverable reserves of 6 million to 7 million barrels of oil and approximately 16 million barrels of oil in place, in line with the mid-case pre-drill expectations reported before the start of drilling operations, BW Energy said.
“The successful appraisal of the Hibiscus South satellite structure represents a low-cost and low-risk expansion of the Dussafu production and reserve base. We look forward to rapidly bringing these high-value barrels into production,” BW Energy CEO Carl Arnet said. “The result also confirms the significant potential of the Dussafu licence, where we have multiple additional future prospects.”.
Furthermore, BW Energy’s assets are 73.5 percent of the producing Dussafu Marine licence offshore Gabon, 100 percent interest in the Golfinho and Camarupim fields, 76.5 percent interest in the BM-ES-23 block, 95 percent interest in the Maromba field in Brazil, and 95 percent interest in the Kudu field in Namibia, all of which are operated by the company. Its total net 2P+2C reserves and resources were 546 million barrels of oil equivalent at the start of 2023, including the Golfinho Clusters.
Meanwhile, BW Energy said that production has been reinstated at its DHIBM-3H well on an electrical submersible pump (ESP). The ESP on the DHIBM-4H well, which has been producing on natural flow, has also been successfully restarted, the company said in an earlier news release. The current total Dussafu gross production, with all the Tortue and Hibiscus wells in operation, is in the range of 30,000 to 35,000 barrels of oil per day, the company noted.
In October, BW Energy temporarily suspended drilling and completion activities on its DRM-3H production well at the Ruche field. While the well was drilled to a depth of 17,555.8 feet (5,351 metres) and encountered oil in the Gamba reservoir, the company decided that an alternative final casing design was needed. The DRM-3H is the company’s longest lateral step-out drilled to date, and BW Energy expects to return to complete the well later in the drilling campaign when it obtains additional casing material.
BW Energy projects a substantial boost in gross oil production on the Dussafu licence to around 40,000 barrels per day as a result of the ongoing Hibiscus/Ruche drilling campaign. The initial phase of this strategic initiative involves the active drilling of up to six horizontal production wells within a meticulously planned 12-well program. These wells will be seamlessly integrated into a production facility. Notably, four of the initial wells will strategically target the Hibiscus Field, with the remaining two set to optimise production from the Ruche Field.
