Oslo-listed BW Offshore continues with the disposal of its non-core fleet with the sale of the floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit Abo, operating offshore Nigeria.
STAC Marine Offshore, a member of the Nigerian Transport Group (STAC) has purchased the vessel converted from the 1976-built aframax tanker for $20m.
The FPSO has been operating for Eni’s subsidiary Nigerian Agip Exploration on the Abo field since the beginning of production in 2003 some 40 km off the Nigerian coast on the western edge of the Niger Delta. Several short-term contract extensions had been signed on the unit while negotiations for the sale were ongoing.
As part of the deal, BW Offshore has entered into a bareboat charter with STAC during a transition period of up to two months, after which STAC will assume responsibility for the operations of the unit.
Following the latest in a series of sales that saw BW Opportunity, BW Athena, Espoir Ivoirien and Sendje Berge exit the fleet, Andreas Sohmen-Pao’s floater specialist will have five units left. The Petróleo Nautipa operating in Gabon is set for scrap this year, while the sale of the Polvo unit offshore Brazil is expected to close in 2024.
