Oslo-listed BW Offshore has brought in international investors to help finance its new floating production storage and offloading vessel in Australia.
The company has formed a joint venture with Australian lender Macquarie and a Japanese group comprising Itochu Corp and Meiji Shipping to provide $240m in equity for the project in the Barossa gas field operated by Santos.
BW Offshore said in March it had won a 15-year contract worth $4.6bn for the new unit, with options for another 10 years.
In August, the company sealed $1.15bn in debt financing over 14 years.
BW Offshore had initially estimated it would need $2bn of funds in total.
The equity finance is the final piece of the jigsaw.
BW Offshore putting in lion's share
BW Offshore has 51% of the joint venture, with Macquarie taking 24% and the Japanese companies a combined 25%.
There will also be pre-payments of $1bn by Santos and unnamed upstream partners as part of the package.
The debt finance came from a syndicate of nine international banks, with interest at a base rate plus a 2.5% margin during construction and a 2.25% margin during the operational phase.
Initial gas production from the FPSO is expected during the first half of 2025.
The unit will have processing capacity for up to 800m cbf of gas per day. It will also be able to process 11,000 barrels per day of stabilised condensate.
The Barossa field is 300 km (186 miles) off Darwin in the far north of the country.
