The Hague, Netherlands | – Anglo-Dutch Shell’s deepwater subsidiary in Nigeria, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Co. (SNEPCo) started oil production from the first well at the Bonga North West deepwater development off the Nigerian coast, a press release said.
The Bonga project, which came onstream in 2005, was Nigeria’s first deepwater development, in water depths more than 1,000 m (3,281 ft).
Oil from the Bonga North West subsea facilities is transported by a new undersea pipeline to the existing Bonga FPSO export facility. The Bonga FPSO unit has been upgraded to handle the additional oil flow from Bonga North West, which is expected to contribute 40 Mboe/d at peak production.
Four oil-producing wells and two water injection wells in the Bonga North West development will be connected to the FPSO unit, from which oil is loaded onto tankers for shipping around the world.
Other features of the development included new production manifolds, subsea umbilical systems, oil production and water injection flowlines, and subsea tree systems installed on the seabed around 1,000 m below the surface.
The project is operated by SNEPCo, which holds a 55% interest. The other project partners are Esso Exploration & Production Nigeria (Deepwater) Ltd. (20%), Total E&P Nigeria Ltd. (12.5%) and Nigerian Agip Exploration Ltd. (12.5%) under a production-sharing contract with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
