BW Energy has made a commercial discovery at an appraisal well, with plans to complete it as a producer in early 2024.
The company said it had drilled the DHBSM-1 appraisal well on the Hibiscus South satellite prospect. It drilled the well from the MaBoMo production platform, using the Borr Norve jack-up.
The well reached a total depth of 6,002 metres. The target was around 5 km southwest of the platform. It found 20 metres of pay in an overall hydrocarbon column of 26.5 metres, in the Gamba formation.
© Supplied by BW EnergyHibiscus South is a separate find from the Hibiscus field, operator BW Energy said, with a deeper oil-water contact. As a result, it will be able to book additional reserves.
The company said gross recoverable reserves at the new find were expected to be 6-7 million barrels of oil, with 16mn barrels in place.
“The successful appraisal of the Hibiscus South satellite structure represents a low-cost and low-risk expansion of the Dussafu production and reserve base,” said BW Energy CEO Carl Arnet.
“We look forward to rapidly bringing these high-value barrels into production. The result also confirms the significant potential of the Dussafu licence where we have multiple additional future prospects.”
BW Energy has a 73.5% stake in the licence, while Panoro Energy has 17.5%. Panoro CEO John Hamilton said the find was the sixth on the licence during his company’s participation, an 86% success rate for the Gamba formation.
“In line with our infrastructure led exploration and appraisal strategy we will leverage the existing production infrastructure nearby to rapidly develop these new high-margin barrels cost effectively as part of the current campaign,” Hamilton said.
Hibiscus flowers
The Dussafu licence produced 23,200 gross barrels per day of oil in the third quarter. Two more Hibiscus wells started up in the recent quarter, in addition to a gas lift compressor on the FPSO BW Adolo.
With all the wells producing, current Dussafu production is around 35,000 bpd. The operator has said it believes it will be able to increase production to 40,000 bpd, as a result of its drilling programme. BW Energy aims to reach 50,000 bpd gross by 2024 across its operations.
BW Energy reported one lifting in the quarter, at a price of $79 per barrel. Production costs, not including royalties, were $28 per barrel. In the fourth quarter, the company said it expects to lift three cargoes.
The Borr Norve began drilling the DRM-3H production well on the Ruche field in September. However, it had to pause operations as a result of casing issues. BW Energy said the well was the longest lateral step-out and would require an alternative casing design. As a result, the jack-up switched over to DHBSM-1 instead.