BW Energy is pleased to announce that it has been provisionally awarded operatorship of two blocks in the 12th Offshore Licensing Round in Gabon. The award by the Direction Generale des Hydrocarbures (DGH) in Gabon is subject to finalising the production sharing contracts (PSC) with the DGH.

The two blocks, G12-13 and H12-13, are adjacent to BW Energy`s Dussafu licence offshore Southern Gabon. The blocks cover an area of 2,989 km² and 1,929 km², respectively (see map in attached file).

The blocks will be held by a consortium composed of BW Energy as operator (37.5%) with VAALCO Energy (37.5%) and Panoro Energy (25%) as non-operating joint venture partners. The PSCs will have an exploration period totalling eight years which may be extended by a further two years. The partners have committed to drilling exploration wells on the blocks during the exploration period and intend to carry out a 3D seismic acquisition campaign on both blocks.

The consortium is uniquely positioned with BW Energy and Panoro Energy as joint venture partners in the Dussafu PSC and with VAALCO Energy as the operator of the adjacent Etame PSC. The consortium members have over the past 15 years undertaken successful exploration, development and production projects on both the Dussafu and Etame, where in total, approximately 250 million barrels have been discovered to date and multiple fields put into production.

BW Energy, VAALCO Energy and Panoro Energy intend to collaborate on implementing safe, efficient and cost-effective operations and leverage the subsurface and production learnings from Etame and Dussafu to deliver competitive solutions for the exploration, development, and monetisation of Gabon’s oil and gas resources.

Carl K. Arnet, CEO of BW Energy, commented:

“These blocks are situated in core areas for BW Energy, most within tie-back distance of existing infrastructure with the potential for rapid value creation from future discoveries. As we prepare for additional production coming online from our Hibiscus/Ruche project in 2022, these licence awards, combined with our ongoing development projects, further demonstrate BW Energy`s commitment to Gabon and to our ambitions of growing both production and cash flow.”