• Tinubu hails company, partners
Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo), a subsidiary of Shell Plc, has made a final investment decision (FID) for the Bonga North Deepwater Project, a major step that will boost Nigeria’s oil production by an additional 110,000 barrels per day (bpd).
Bonga North, a subsea tie-back to the Shell-operated Bonga Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) facility, is expected to sustain oil and gas production at the facility.
The project is estimated to hold more than 300 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) in recoverable resources and it is projected to reach a peak production of 110,000 barrels of oil per day. The first oil from the project is anticipated before the end of the decade.
The addition of 110,000 bpd will play a critical role in sustaining Nigeria’s production levels, providing a boost at a time when the country is focused on stabilising its oil output.
The development is also seen as an opportunity to drive further investment in the country’s energy sector, which has faced challenges due to global market fluctuations and domestic infrastructure constraints.
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.
Shell’s Integrated Gas and Upstream Director, Zoë Yujnovich, said the project would sustain oil and gas production at the Bonga facility.
FOLLOWING Shell’s investment decision, President Bola Tinubu has celebrated the company and its partners for their decision.
Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to the President, Bayo Onanuga, in a statement, yesterday, said the development, Nigeria’s first deepwater oil project in over a decade, underscored the transformative impact of the President’s policies and reforms in attracting investments to the oil and gas sector.
The statement quoted President Tinubu as saying: “The Renewed Hope Agenda fundamentally focuses on attracting investments to transform the Nigerian economy and deliver prosperity to our people.
“We designed our policies and reforms from the start of my administration to achieve this goal. Shell and its partners’ decision to invest in Bonga North affirms the success of our efforts. We will continue to offer the necessary support to ensure their success and the realisation of Nigeria’s energy potential.”
Recall also that in July 2023, at one of the meetings with Shell’s global leadership, Tinubu declared: “We are open for business and serious about creating a stable, predictable, and investor-friendly environment.”
Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Ms Olu Arowolo Verheijen, said: “The Bonga North FID dispels the misconceptions about International Oil Companies leaving Nigeria. Instead, we are witnessing a strategic pivot of IOCs-powered capital and technical capacity to deepwater and integrated gas projects, which align with President Tinubu’s vision of transforming Nigeria into a global energy hub. The divestments from onshore operations create opportunities for local oil and gas companies to expand and thrive, building a strong foundation for Nigeria’s energy future.”
