BW Energy has reached final investment decision (FID) for the Maromba development offshore Brazil based on a capex-efficient development with an integrated drilling and wellhead platform (WHP) and a refurbished FPSO. The development targets 500 million barrels of oil in place in the highly delineated and tested Maastrichtian sands.
First oil is planned by end-2027 with expected plateau production of 60,000 bopd. The development will more than double BW Energy’s total net production by 2028 and has short pay-back time.
“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,” said Carl K. Arnet, CEO of BW Energy. “Maromba will enable BW Energy to deliver industry-leading organic production growth and position the company for further low-cost developments of known potential developments. We expect to unlock significant shareholder value in all realistic oil price scenarios.”
Capex-efficient concept
The development comprises six initial Maastrichtian horizontal production wells with dry-trees and artificial lift by downhole Electric Submersible Pumps (ESPs). Production will be transferred from the WHP to the spread moored FPSO Maromba for treatment, storage and offloading to shuttle tankers. The WHP will be installed in ~150 meters of water depth with full drilling facilities. Once installed, the infrastructure will also enable the planned secondary six-well drilling campaign and provide potential for future development phases with low-cost infill wells, potential water injectors as well as allowing appraisal and production of multiple proven reservoirs outside the main Maastrichtian resources.
The FPSO Maromba is currently at the COSCO yard in China, undergoing initial refurbishment and life extension work following completion of condition assessment and FEED. The FPSO is designed with 1 million barrels of storage capacity. The total liquid capacity will be 100,000 barrels per day with oil production capacity of 65,000 barrels per day and water treatment capacity of 85,000 barrels per day.
BW Energy has agreed to acquire a jack-up with complete leg extensions for $107.5 million USD. The rig will undergo a limited conversion to serve as an integrated drilling and wellhead platform prior to installation on the field.
“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,” said Arnet.
BW Energy expects to invest approximately $1 billion before first oil and a further $ 200 million to complete the initial drilling campaign before end 2028. This will be followed by $300 million for the additional six wells in the second campaign with completion before end 2030.
The Maromba field
Maromba is located 100 km off the Brazilian coast in the Campos Basin. Nine wells were drilled in the license between 1980 and 2006, with oil found in eight of these across various reservoirs. The development project targets 123 million barrels of 2P reserves (management estimates), with potential additional resources from other reservoirs to be appraised along the development. BW Energy acquired 100% ownership in Maromba in 2019 for a total of USD 115 million, of which USD 85 million remains to be paid to the sellers at predefined milestones. Magma Oil holds a 5% back-in right in the Maromba licence which is expected to be executed upon first oil.
