The development plan includes six initial horizontal production wells equipped with dry-trees and downhole Electric Submersible Pumps for artificial lift. The WHP, to be installed in approximately 150 meters of water depth, will feature full drilling capabilities and transfer production to the FPSO Maromba for processing, storage, and offloading. The FPSO, currently undergoing refurbishment at the COSCO yard in China, offers a storage capacity of 1 million barrels and can process 65,000 barrels of oil and treat 85,000 barrels of water daily.
Carl K. Arnet, CEO of BW Energy, stated: “We have spent time on optimizing the Maromba development plan and concluded on a highly competitive concept with a repurposed jack-up platform and FPSO, repeating the approach we very successfully applied in Gabon.” He added: “The repurposing of existing energy infrastructure enables reduced investments and shorter time to first oil with significantly reduced greenhouse gas emissions in the development phase, as compared to installing new production assets.”
BW Energy acquired a jack-up rig for $107.5 million, which will be converted into the WHP. The infrastructure will support a secondary six-well drilling campaign and potential future phases, including low-cost infill wells and appraisal of additional reservoirs. The project targets 123 million barrels of 2P reserves, with further resource potential to be explored.
The company plans to invest approximately $1 billion before first oil, followed by $200 million for the initial drilling campaign by 2028 and $300 million for the second campaign by 2030. The Maromba field, acquired by BW Energy in 2019 for $115 million, has a 5% back-in right held by Magma Oil, expected to be exercised upon first oil.
This development will significantly boost BW Energy’s production capacity by 2028, leveraging efficient infrastructure to deliver sustainable energy with reduced environmental impact.
