BW Energy has secured $208 million in project-level lease financing for the Akoum wellhead platform (WHP, a fixed seabed-standing structure hosting production wells) planned for the Bourdon field offshore Gabon. The company also extended its $250 million revolving credit facility (RCF) by 18 months, it announced.

Minshenn Financial Leasing agreed the 12-year lease, replacing short-term funding previously disclosed by BW Energy. The arrangement carries an initial fixed period of eight years, followed by a four-year option. The lease covers 100% of the platform's capital expenditure.

What does the deal cover?

The Akoum platform serves the Bourdon development within the Dussafu licence, which BW Energy operates offshore Gabon. The company took final investment decision (FID, the board approval committing capital to a project) on Bourdon in May.

Akoum is being converted from a rig into a 12-slot WHP. BW Energy said conversion work is progressing as planned and that the facility will support potential later development phases in the area.

Costs will be allocated between the Dussafu licence partners according to their participating interests. BW Energy holds 73.5%. At the conclusion of the lease, ownership of the platform transfers to the licence.

First oil from Bourdon is scheduled for the first quarter of 2028.

How did the CFO frame it?

BW Energy chief financial officer Thomas Young said: "The Bourdon development is a great example of what our business model can deliver. Fourteen months from discovery to FID, and now the full infrastructure cost financed long term at an attractive cost of capital, without upfront equity."

Young added: "Extending the RCF adds further flexibility as we grow towards more than 100,000 barrels per day."

The Bourdon timeline — discovery to FID in 14 months — stands as one of the faster sanctioned developments on the Gabonese shelf.

What changes at the corporate level?

Separately, BW Energy exercised an option to prolong its corporate RCF with DNB Bank. The facility now matures in August 2028, with existing terms unchanged.

The $250 million RCF provides funding flexibility for field development work and general corporate purposes.

What is the production outlook?

BW Energy expects production to rise from around 30,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) in 2025 to more than 100,000 bopd in 2028. The company holds oil and gas production, development and exploration interests in Gabon, Brazil and Namibia.

Its reserve base includes more than 240 million barrels of oil equivalent in net proved plus probable (2P) reserves and 390 million barrels classified as 2C resources (contingent discoveries not yet commercially sanctioned).

The watch item: first oil from Bourdon in Q1 2028, and the pace of conversion work on the Akoum platform before then.