Norway-listed BW Energy is nearing its short-term goal of producing 40,000 barrels of oil per day at its Gabonese assets after successfully completing a horizontal sidetrack from a discovery well into the payzone.
Panoro Energy, a minority partner in the Dussafu license area offshore Gabon, announced that the DHIBM-7H production well, located on the northern flank of the Hibiscus field, was successfully drilled and began production in early October using a conventional electrical submersible pump (ESP). The production rate is consistent with expectations and similar to previous wells in the area.
The completion of the DHIBM-7H well concludes the current drilling campaign at Dussafu, which has resulted in eight new production wells and two new discoveries across the Hibiscus and Ruche areas. These additions have increased estimated gross proven and probable reserves by 23.1 million barrels.
The drilling rig, Borr Norve, which has been operating at Hibiscus, will now undertake a workover and ESP replacement program on existing wells. Once this is finished, all wells will have conventional ESP systems, pushing production to the 40,000 barrels per day target by the end of the year, according to Panoro.
John Hamilton, CEO of Panoro, expressed satisfaction with the campaign’s success, noting that five of the eight new wells are already producing, along with six existing wells at the Tortue field. He added that efforts are underway to restore production at three shut-in wells, and the company plans to begin drilling at the nearby Bourdon prospect, which may hold an estimated 30 million barrels of recoverable reserves.
BW Energy holds a 73.5% operating interest in the Dussafu license, with Panoro holding 17.5%, and Gabon Oil Company the remaining 9%.
