London, UK | – Anglo–Dutch multinational oil and gas major Shell said it has launched the start-up of production from the Bonga Phase 3 project in Nigeria.
The Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) pioneered Nigeria’s deep-water oil and gas production at the Bonga field. Bonga Phase 3 is an expansion of the Bonga Main development, with peak production expected to be some 50,000 barrels of oil and 150 million standard cubic feet of gas per day.
The Bonga field has been producing oil and gas since 2005 and was Nigeria’s first deepwater development in depths more than 1,000 metres. Since its inception, Bonga has produced more than 600million barrels of oil.
Andrew Brown, Shell’s Upstream International director, said:“This new start up is another important milestone for Bonga, adding valuable new production to this major facility.”
The Bonga project operated by SNEPCo as contractor under a production sharing contract with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) which hold the lease for ML 118 in which the Bonga field is located.
SNEPCo holds a 55% contractor interest in OML 118. The other JV partners are Esso Exploration & Production Nigeria Ltd (20%), Total E&P Nigeria Ltd (12.5%) and Nigerian Agip Exploration Ltd (12.5%).
Earlier this month the company declared a force majeure and halted crude exports from one of Nigeria’s main export points, the Forcados Terminal, which has a capacity of 400,000 barrels a day. The halt in crude exports was caused by a leak in the Trans Forcados Pipeline.
