Shell has commenced production from its first well at the Bonga North West deepwater development off the shores of Nigeria. Production activities from this new well are expected to boost Nigeria’s crude oil by 40,000 barrels per day and culminate in crude earnings of N672 million ($4.2 million) daily.

In 2005, the Bonga project became Nigeria’s first deep‐water development in water depths beyond 1,000 meters.

The Bonga North‐west move is a significant milestone for the project because, according to the company, oil from the sub‐sea facilities can be transported by an undersea pipeline to the already existing Bonga Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) export facility.

Shell announced, in a statement, that the Bonga FPSO vessel has been upgraded to handle the additional oil flow from Bonga North‐west.

The investments made by Shell and other project stakeholders include the upgrading of facilities for local contractors and the provision of specialized training for Nigerians to work in the energy industry.

Mr Andrew Brown, Shell Upstream International Director, said; “This is an excellent addition to our deep water portfolio, a key growth theme for Shell’s world‐wide upstream business. It is also good news for Nigeria, as it is a new source of oil revenues and strengthens Nigeria’s deep‐water expertise, a key driver of economic development.”

The Bonga project is currently operated by four partners with SNEPCo holding a 55 percent stake. Esso Exploration & Production Nigeria (Deepwater) owns 20 percent, Total E&P Nigeria Limited has 12.5 percent and Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited holds 12.5 percent under a sharing contract with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

By Emmanuel Iruobe