A subsidiary of Murphy Oil has signed a purchase and sale agreement to acquire the FPSO BW Pioneer from BW Offshore for $125 million.
The vessel will remain operating in service at its present location in the UK, supporting operations at the Cascade and Chinook fields in Walker Ridge 206/250 and 469/425.
BW Offshore will continue to provide operations and maintenance under a new five-year reimbursable contract.
Eric M. Hambly, Murphy’s president and CEO, explained the rationale behind the transaction:
“By acquiring the FPSO and restructuring our contract, we will achieve a material reduction in operating costs of nearly $60 million annually with a payback of about two years independent of oil price, while enhancing returns for future infield development and exploration and increasing net proved developed reserves by approximately 8 MMboe…
“Further, the FPSO is located in the prolific Wilcox trend, allowing for operated and non-operated exploration prospects to tie back to a cost-advantaged facility.”
The first FPSO approved for operations in the Gulf of Mexico, the BW Pioneer has been in service since its conversion in 2009. The vessel has a storage capacity of about 600,000 bbl of oil and processing capacity of about 80,000 bbl of oil per day.
BW Offshore had the BW Pioneer converted at Keppel Shipyard. It currently has an oil storage capacity of about 600,000 bbl, a processing capacity of 80,000 bbl/d, and a gas-handling capability of 16 MMcf/d.
In August 2020, the vessel’s disconnectable turret system was first deployed to evade an approaching hurricane.
