(WO) – BW Energy has suspended its 2026 capital expenditure guidance, previously $600 million to $650 million, while it reschedules its Dussafu well program after the Prospector 5 jackup sank offshore Gabon on Oct. 24. The Borr Drilling-owned and -operated rig went down during preparations for the MaBoMo Phase 2 drilling campaign, and BW Energy said it is supporting search-and-rescue efforts with the Gabonese authorities, Borr and neighbouring operators.
As a standard precaution, production from the MaBoMo facility had been shut in before the rig moved into the safety perimeter. The company reported no damage to the facility or related equipment, and production resumed on Oct. 28. A well workover that had been planned with the rig will instead be carried out with a hydraulic workover unit, which BW Energy is working to mobilize in the coming months.
It is too early to say when Phase 2 drilling will resume. Before the incident, BW Energy had already begun searching for a new rig for the Bourdon drilling program, and it will now assess how to fold the remaining MaBoMo Phase 2 wells into the wider Dussafu program. Oil was found in both appraisal wells drilled early in the campaign, adding 8 million to 9 million bbl of recoverable volumes and supporting two production wells. Each new well, including one of the appraisals, is expected to produce about 5,000 bopd gross initially, and the campaign is designed to add up to 20,000 bopd gross at peak from five new producers. “The incident affects the timing of those barrels rather than the resources themselves,” said CEO Carl K. Arnet.
Dussafu net production fell to 16,800 bopd in the third quarter from 19,300 bopd, mainly because a well with an electrical submersible pump (ESP) failure was shut in for most of the quarter. Group net output was 21,500 bopd, and 2026 guidance is now about 23,000 bopd, from the low end of 24,000 to 27,000 bopd. At Golfinho offshore Brazil, availability dropped to 58% on reduced gas-lift compressor availability and a pump failure in one well.
Other projects remain on plan and cost. Conversion of a jackup into the Akoum wellhead platform for Bourdon is progressing in Dubai, backed by a $208 million lease financing. In Brazil, the jackup being converted into a combined wellhead and drilling platform for Maromba is nearing completion in Dubai, ahead of a planned transit through the Strait of Hormuz later this year.
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