Shell has approved development of its Bonga North subsea tieback to an existing floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) facility offshore Nigeria.
Shell subsidiary Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Ltd. (SNEPCo) announced on 16 December reaching final investment decision on its operated deepwater Bonga North project, with first oil from the field in Oil Mining License (OML) 118 anticipated by the end of this decade.
According to Shell, Bonga North has an estimated recoverable resource volume of more than 300 million BOE and is expected to reach peak production of 110,000 BOPD.
The Bonga North project in water depths of 900 to 1300 m includes the drilling, completing, and starting up of eight production and eight water-injection wells. Installation of new subsea hardware, FPSO topside modifications to accommodate Bonga North production, and life-extension work on the Bonga FPSO (OTC 35112), which had an initial design life of 20 years, are also planned.
Developing Bonga North to a standalone FPSO was originally proposed but not supported due to the allowable number of FPSOs in OML 118, according to OTC 35242, so the revised project calls for an 18-km tieback to the main FPSO.
The paper’s authors state the Bonga North development will be done in phases to derisk existing uncertainties and optimize future development.
The Bonga FPSO, which has been in production since 2005, handled its one-billionth bbl of crude in 2023. It has the capacity to handle 225,000 BOPD.
The Bonga project was the first deepwater project offshore Nigeria, and it was sanctioned in 1999.
In 2020, engineering simulation firm Akselos, in which Shell owns a minority interest, announceddeploying a structural digital twin on the Bonga FPSO.
SNEPCo operates the Bonga field with 55% interest in partnership with Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Ltd. with 20%, Nigerian Agip Exploration Ltd. with 12.5%, and TotalEnergies Exploration and Production Nigeria Ltd. with 12.5%, on behalf of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd.
In January 2024, Shell announced it was selling its onshore Nigerian subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, to Renaissance, a consortium of four local firms and a Swiss-based investment group, in a $2.4-billion deal so it could concentrate on its offshore and integrated gas projects.
