Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company has begun planned maintenance on its Bonga deepwater oil vessel, a move that will temporarily cut Nigeria’s oil export capacity by about 225,000 barrels per day but could extend the asset’s lifespan, the company said on Sunday.
The Bonga Floating Production Storage and Offloading unit, Nigeria's first deepwater project, located about 120 km offshore in water depths over 1,000 metres, can also produce up to 150 million standard cubic feet of gas per day.
SNEPCo Managing Director Ronald Adams said the work - covering statutory inspections, regulatory checks, major integrity upgrades and engineering modifications - was designed to keep the facility running safely and efficiently for another 15 years.
“We expect to resume operations in March following the completion of the turnaround,” Adams said.
SNEPCo and its partners are advancing Bonga North, a new subsea tie‑back project approved in 2024, which will depend on the FPSO’s improved capacity and reliability to handle additional production volumes.
The last turnaround on the vessel took place in October 2022. The FPSO delivered its one‑billionth barrel of oil on February 1, 2023, after starting production in 2005.
SNEPCo operates Bonga in partnership with Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Deepwater) Ltd and Nigerian Agip Exploration Ltd under a production‑sharing contract with state oil firm NNPC Ltd.
(Reuters - Writing by Isaac Anyaogu; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)