Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Ltd. (SNEPCo) began oil production from the first well at the Bonga North West deepwater development, off the Nigerian coast, approximately 120km offshore the Gulf of Guinea, on 5 August.
Oil from the Bonga North West subsea facilities is transported to the existing Bonga floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel using an undersea pipeline.
Four production wells and two water injection wells in the Bonga North West development will be connected to the FPSO, that contributes 40,000boe/d at peak production.
The field also supplies gas to the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Company (NLNG) at Bonny Island, Nigeria, from where it is exported as LNG to European and global markets.
Bonga covers 60sq km in 1000m water depth and has the capacity to produce more than 200,000bbl/d and 150MMcf/d.
“It’s good news for Nigeria, as it is a new source of oil revenues and strengthens Nigeria’s deepwater expertise, a key driver of economic development,” says Andrew Brown, Shell upstream international director.
New production manifolds, subsea umbilical systems, oil production and water injection flowlines and subsea tree systems were installed on the sea bed for the project.
Bonga is operated by SNEPCo, which holds a 55% interest, with prtners Esso Exploration & Production Nigeria (Deepwater) (20%), Total E&P Nigeria (12.5%) and Nigerian Agip Exploration (12.5%) under, a production sharing contract with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp.
About the Bonga project
Bonga was Nigeria’s first deepwater development in over 1000m water depth and began producing oil and gas in 2015.
Built by Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea, the Bonga FPSO is one of the world’s largest at 300m-long and as tall as a 12-story building. Its deck is the size of three football fields.
SNEPCo was formed in 1993 and pioneered Nigeria’s deepwater oil and gas production at Bonga, a project that increased the country’s oil capacity by 10% when it started producing in 2005.
A significant part of the project was carried out by Nigerian companies, including a local contractor, which fabricated and installed the FPSO topsides.
SNEPCo holds interests in four deepwater blocks, two of which it operates: OML 118 (Bonga) and OML 135 (Bolia).
Image of Bonga FPSO (from Shell).
Subscribe
