BW Kudu Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of BW Offshore, yesterday announced entering a ‘farm-out’ agreement for a 56% stake of the Kudu licence offshore Namibia.
The National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor), the state-owned oil company, will hold the remaining 44% of the licence. BW Kudu will become operator of the Kudu licence.
BW Kudu will pay for past costs upon transfer of the field interest to the company. The final investment decision is planned for the last quarter of this year.
“BW Offshore will now start work with the Namibian government, Namcor, NamPower, large infrastructure investors and other stakeholders to get this very exciting project to a financial investment decision” said Carl Arnet, CEO of BW Offshore.
The Kudu field was discovered by Chevron in 1974, approximately 170 km off the Atlantic Ocean.
A further seven appraisal wells have been drilled since then by various oil companies including Shell and Tullow, who subsequently withdrew from the project.
In the Kudu gas-to-power project, the gas will be produced by a floating production unit before being piped to a new 885 MW gas-to-power plant onshore Namibia.
“Kudu represents another opportunity for BW Offshore to take a proactive development role in a project that will produce for 15-25 years. Falling development costs after the 2014 drop in oil prices has helped in making the project economically feasible.
The electricity generated by the power station will reshape electricity supply in south-western Africa, providing a secure long-term supply to support the development of Namibia and potentially neighbouring countries”, said Arnet.
Namcor’s managing director, Immanuel Mulunga, said the project will play a fundamental role in shaping the energy dynamics of Namibia.
“The Kudu gas-to-power project is a key strategic power-generation project for Namibia, which will significantly reduce reliance on imported power, while at the same time accelerating economic development.” He further remarked that the project has the potential of strengthening Namibia’s international standing. “The project will not only enable Namibia to entirely cater for its own power needs, but become a net exporter of power to regional markets.”
BW Offshore is a provider of floating production services to the oil and gas industry. BW Offshore has a fleet of 14 vessels in all major oil and gas regions worldwide. In more than 30 years of production, BW Offshore has executed 38 oil and gas projects. The company is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange.
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