UK's Rockhopper Plans to Pay US$44 Million for Stake in Second FPSO

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 7, UK oil and gas exploration and production company Rockhopper Exploration signed a share subscription agreement, planning to pay US$44 million to acquire a 35% indirect interest in OSX-1, the second floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit for the Sea Lion offshore oilfield. The company will use existing cash to subscribe for ordinary shares in a newly established special purpose vehicle (SPV) that holds the OSX-1 asset. This investment corresponds to 35% of OSX-1's estimated acquisition cost of approximately US$125 million, and the vessel is planned for the subsequent development of the Sea Lion field's Central Development Area (CDA).

Under the subscription arrangement, the SPV's sole asset is OSX-1, with no other significant operating business or substantive operating history. Rockhopper expects that, following the subscription, the annual net holding cost corresponding to its interest will be approximately US$1.4 million. This agreement implements the company's arrangement to participate in ownership of the second FPSO asset, while the OSX-1 acquisition plan had previously been initiated by field operator Navitas Petroleum.

On August 24, 2026, Navitas, through a subsidiary, exercised the OSX-1 purchase option and plans to deploy it in the Sea Lion field's Central Development Area. Navitas holds a 65% interest in the Sea Lion project and serves as operator, while Rockhopper holds the remaining 35%. According to Navitas's previous estimates, the second FPSO can add approximately 125,000 barrels per day of crude oil production processing capacity to the field, of which approximately 43,750 barrels per day corresponds to Rockhopper's equity share. The above figures represent planned capacity and are not yet actual production volumes.

The Central Development Area is planned to drill 38 wells in two phases, with 20 wells in Phase 1 and 18 wells in Phase 2, all planned to use OSX-1. Navitas intends to submit the Central Development Area development plan for approval in 2027 and aims to make a final investment decision (FID) in the first half of 2028, with Phase 1 targeting first oil production by the end of 2030. OSX-1 is expected to require upgrade work, and the previously announced acquisition cost of approximately US$125 million does not include related modification costs.

Phase 1 of the Sea Lion field's Northern Development Area received investment approval and financing arrangements at the end of 2025, with plans to drill 11 wells and use another FPSO—Aoka Mizu—for production, which has a planned crude oil processing capacity of up to approximately 55,000 barrels per day. The project is expected to begin development drilling in early 2027 and achieve first oil production in the first quarter of 2028. Phase 2 of the Northern Development Area plans an additional 12 wells, employing a different production facility deployment arrangement from the Central Development Area.