BW Offshore has sold one of the two floating production, storage and offloading units it had been shopping around.
The Andreas Sohmen-Pao-backed outfit announced on Friday that it had sold the 44,000-bpd Abo FPSO (built 1976) for $20m to Nigeria’s STAC Marine Offshore.
The deal comes with a bareboat charter that will see Oslo-listed BW Offshore run the ship for STAC over a two-month transitional period.
“Originally recognised as the ‘Gray Warrior’, a suezmax tanker constructed in 1976, the vessel underwent conversion at Keppel Shipyard before beginning its operations in April 2003,” the company said.
“[The] Abo FPSO has now reached a commendable milestone, having completed two decades of service on the Abo field. This achievement underscores its enduring contribution to the oil and gas industry in Nigeria.”
It had been marketing the Abo FPSO for sale for some time, putting it on several short-term contracts with an Eni subsidiary in Nigeria while it looked for a buyer.
The sale is part of a larger FPSO divestment push on the part of BW Offshore.
Earlier this year, it sold the 28,000-bpd BW Athena (built 1994) and 35,000-bpd BW Opportunity (built 1989), freeing up $130m.
It followed that up with the sale of the 45,000-bpd (bpd) Espoir Ivoirien (built 1975) for $20m in June.
The Abo FPSO deal leaves BW Offshore with five vessels, including the under-construction Barossa.
It continues marketing the 50,000-bpd Sendje Berge (built 1974) and it intends to recycle the 20,000-bpd Petroleo Nautipa (built 1975) later this year.
