Canadian operator Valeura Energy has exercised its purchase option to acquire Nong Yao field’s FSO Aurora, previously under lease from an Omni Offshore Terminals subsidiary.
, previously under lease from an Omni Offshore Terminals subsidiary.The purchase price for the vessel is $19m which will be funded with the company’s cash resources upon completion of the transaction, anticipated in June 2024.
Given the pending expansion of the field and potential future developments, Valeura claimed that owning, as opposed to leasing the FSO would provide operational flexibility and allow it to optimise operating expenses.
Valeura became the owner of the Nong Yao field in the southern Gulf of Thailand through the acquisition of KrisEnergy International Holdings in 2022. The transaction also included the suspended Wassana oil field and the Rossukon oil field.
Oil from the Nong Yao field will be produced via a mobile offshore production unit (MOPU) provided by T7 Global. The deal, worth $88m at the time, was won by a T7 subsidiary and entails the engineering, procurement, construction, installation, commissioning, leasing, operation, and maintenance of the unit for five years.
The MOPU was built at the China State Shipbuilding Corporation shipyard in Qing Dao and given the name TSeven Shirley earlier this month. It departed China shortly after and is headed towards Nong Yao.
Upon arrival, the unit will serve as the wellhead production platform for the Nong Yao C field development. First production from Nong Yao C is expected in the late second quarter of 2024. When fully on stream its peak target production will be around 11,000 bbls/d.
