Breaking: Shell, Partners Sign FID on 300 Million Barrels Bonga North Deep-water Project

Peter Uzoho

Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo), a subsidiary of Shell Plc, has announced a final investment decision (FID) on Bonga North, a deep-water project off the coast of Nigeria.

Shell announced this in a statement issued from London on Monday, but didn’t mention the cost of the project.

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 per cent interest.

The Bonga North project, according to the statement, 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,” Shell’s Integrated Gas and Upstream Director, Zoë Yujnovich, stated in the statement.

Bonga North will help ensure Shell’s leading Integrated Gas and Upstream business continues to drive cash generation into the next decade.

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

Bonga is a deep-water 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). These volumes are currently classified as 2P (proven and probable) under the Society of Petroleum Engineers’ Petroleum Resources Management System.

The international oil company (IOC) stated that estimated peak production and recoverable resources mentioned above are 100 per cent total gross figures.

It maintained that the investment in Bonga North was expected to generate an internal rate of return (IRR) in excess of the hurdle rate for Shell’s Upstream business.

Shell’s Upstream business continues to set new benchmarks in performance through near-field opportunities like Bonga North, leveraging technical expertise, strong partnerships, and a model built on simplification and replication.