Shell Makes FID for Deepwater Oil Project Off Nigeria

Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo), a subsidiary of Shell, has made a final investment decision (FID) on Bonga North, a deepwater project off the coast of Nigeria.

Bonga North will be a subsea tie-back to the Shell-operated Bonga Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) facility which Shell operates with a 55% interest.

The Bonga North project involves drilling, completing, and starting up 16 wells - 8 production and 8 water injection wells, modifications to the existing Bonga Main FPSO and the installation of new subsea hardware tied back to the FPSO.

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 (boe) 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,” said Zoë Yujnovich, Shell’s Integrated Gas and Upstream Director.

SNEPCo (55%) operates the Bonga field in partnership with Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (20%), Nigerian Agip Exploration (12.5%), and TotalEnergies Exploration and Production Nigeria (12.5%), on behalf of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC).

Bonga is a deepwater development located in OML 118, at water depths exceeding 1,000 meters.

Production at the Bonga FPSO began in 2005, with a capacity to produce 225,000 barrels of oil per day.

The project produced its one-billionth barrel of crude oil in 2023.

The Bonga North development holds estimated recoverable resource volumes of more than 300 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe). The volumes are currently classified as 2P (proven and probable) under the Society of Petroleum Engineers’ Petroleum Resources Management System.