Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The international oil company Shell says its Bonga North deepwater project, a critical investment in Nigeria’s upstream sector, will sustain oil and gas production at the Bonga facility, situated offshore Nigeria.
The project, on which the company recently reached a milestone final investment decision, FID, is a subsea tie-back to the Shell-operated Bonga Floating Production Storage and Offloading, FPSO, facility.
Shell holds a 55% operating interest in the Bonga field, collaborating with Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Ltd. (20%), Nigerian Agip Exploration Ltd. (12.5%), and TotalEnergies Exploration and Production Nigeria Ltd. (12.5%), on behalf of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPC.
The Bonga North project involves drilling, completing, and starting up 16 wells (eight production and eight water injection wells), modifications to the existing Bonga Main FPSO and the installation of new subsea hardware tied back to the FPSO.
Zoë Yujnovich, Shell’s Integrated Gas and Upstream Director, said the project will sustain oil and gas production at the Bonga facility.
“Bonga North currently has an estimated recoverable resource volume of more than 300 million barrels of oil equivalent and will reach a peak production of 110,000 barrels of oil a day, with first oil anticipated by the end of the decade.
“This is another significant investment, which will help us to maintain stable liquids production from our advantaged Upstream portfolio.
“Bonga North will help ensure Shell’s leading Integrated Gas and Upstream business continues to drive cash generation into the next decade,” Yujnovich said.
The Bonga field, located in Oil Mining Lease, OML, 118 at water depths exceeding 1,000 metres, has been a cornerstone of Nigeria’s deep-water production since its commencement in 2005.
With a daily production capacity of 225,000 barrels of oil, the field marked a historic milestone in 2023, producing its one-billionth barrel of crude oil.
