Norway’s BW Energy has signed a long-term lease agreement for the BW Maromba B jackup with Minsheng Financial Leasing, following a short-term deal signed in September.
The new lease agreement covers the rig purchase and all costs required to bring the Maromba B wellhead platform to drilling and production readiness.
This represents $274m of the Maromba capex and provides an efficient lease financing structure for the project’s development phase, followed by a ten-year lease term.
The lease will commence upon first oil for the Maromba development, with no payments due before this point. The lease carries a fixed daily rate of $120,500, providing cost predictability throughout the lease period.
BW Energy bought the 1998-built Valaris 247 LeTourneau Super Gorilla Class design rig in May this year for cash proceeds of around $108m. It was delivered in August after the rig finished up its drilling contract with Jadestone Energy offshore Australia.
The rig is currently en route from Singapore to Dubai, with expected arrival before year-end. At the yard in Dubai, it will be refurbished and converted into a fully integrated drilling and production platform.
When completed, it will mobilise to Brazil and commence drilling and completion work according to the phased development plan for the Maromba field.
“This agreement further highlights our ability to consistently leverage repurposed production infrastructure to enable cost-efficient greenfield developments,” said Thomas Young, the CFO of BW Energy.
The Norwegian firm also secured a $365m facility to fund the refurbishment and redeployment of the Maromba FPSO in early September.
