By Jerome Okojokwu-Idu, with contribution from Precious Okolobo

The Chief Upstream Investment Officer, NNPC’s Nigeria Upstream Investment Management Services (NUIMS), Bala Wunti, believes that the Final Investment Decision (FID) on Bonga is one of the best things that ever happened to Nigeria.

Bonga, Nigeria’s first deep-water exploration and production vessel, on Monday, February 13, 2023, hit a 1-billion-barrel oil export mark.

This milestone comes three months after a major turnaround maintenance (TAM) of the facility was completed ahead of schedule.

Speaking on this milestone, Wunti said it is a clear demonstration that Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) management and staff are world class managers of assets.

Bonga began operation in 2005 and produces on the average almost 5.9 million barrels monthly, which translates to a cargo every five days, Wunti said, adding that it is very relevant in the deep-water operations in the country.

“As you are aware since 2005 when it commenced operation after FID in 1999, they have produced on the average almost 5.9 million barrels monthly, that translates to a cargo after every five days; and that is a significant milestone. And by the way, how many fields in the world has crossed this 1-billion milestone? So clearly, in the comity of deep water, it is really, really relevant and we cannot but appreciate the fact that it was the best thing that Nigeria has done to take FID on Bonga,” he said.

“When I visited Bonga, after 17 years of operation, I saw a clear demonstration of world-class operations and management. The fact that we are able to achieve a 1billion barrels milestone is a clear demonstration that indeed SNEPCo management and staff have absolutely indicated that they are world class managers of our asset,” Wunti said.

According to him, the success of Bonga brought in other operators into the deepwater operations. “Bonga is the first. It is the one that heralded entry of other deep-water operations,” he said.

On notable dividends that Nigeria has achieved through Bonga, Wunti explained that under the government take, over 40 percent of the cumulative production has been lifted by the country, comprising royalties, taxes, and profit oil.

This volume significantly generated huge resource and financial benefit for the country, he said. But beyond the country, he said all the partners and stakeholders have also benefited.

“So, when you look at Bonga as a whole, clearly it has delivered on its mandate, far beyond what we expect,” Wunti concluded.

Water depths of more than 1,000 metres

Bonga is a reflection of how impossibility can become possible when man, nature and technology work in unison.

Bonga, a floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel which is anchored 120 kilometres offshore in the Gulf of Guinea (in water depths of more than 1,000 metres across an area of 60 square kilometres), has consistently delivered value in national revenue, local capacity development of Nigerian engineers and funding support to the service industry, in addition to its many social investment programmes in health, education, and sports.

Shell took the Bonga challenge by setting up SNEPCo in 1993 as “an organisation capable of finding and delivering hydrocarbons safely, responsibly and economically in Nigeria’s frontier areas.” Shell was not new to the demands and risks in deep-water exploration and production. As far back as 1978, the company began production at the Cognac oil and gas field in the Gulf of Mexico in water depths of 1,025 feet, the deepest in the world at the time.

With support from Shell’s global expertise, SNEPCo drilled the first exploration well in 1995, named Bonga, after a local fish species. Bonga 1X led up to further discoveries until first oil was achieved in November 2005. The first export left the field in February 2006. This was Nigeria’s first deep-water production and increased the nation’s output by 10 per cent.

The Bonga FPSO vessel is at the heart of the operations in the field. The FPSO hull was constructed by Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea, and was commissioned by former First Lady of Nigeria, Late Mrs. Stella Obasanjo.

The Bonga FPSO vessel has enjoyed significant expansion over the years with the further drilling of wells in Bonga Phases 2 and 3 and through a subsea tie-back that unlocked the near Bonga Northwest field in August 2014.

Bonga Northwest can produce approximately 65,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day and was named Engineering Project of the Year 2015 at the prestigious Platts Global Energy Awards in New York.

Exciting milestone

The Managing Director of SNEPCo, Elohor Aiboni, was quoted in a statement as describing the milestone as a celebration of excellence, leadership and focused delivery that has brought significant benefits to Nigeria and Nigerians.

“One billion barrels is an exciting milestone,” the statement quoted Aiboni, SNEPCo’ s first female Managing Director as saying.

“I’m incredibly proud of all of our employees and contractors who’ve contributed to the success of the Bonga FPSO and the attainment of this remarkable achievement,” she asserted.

Aiboni also attributed the success of Bonga to the supportive partnership with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and SNEPCo’s co-venturers – TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited, Nigerian Agip Oil Company, and Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited.

“We are building a leading safe, simpler, and cost-disciplined deep-water business that brings value to our partners, shareholders, and Nigerians, which remains a heartland for Shell.”

According to Aiboni, the integrated delivery approach, continuous improvement, and the support lever offered by the technological prowess of the Shell Group are the pillars of SNEPCo’s excellence delivery.

“We are building a leading safe, simpler, and cost-disciplined deep-water business that brings value to our partners, shareholders, and Nigeria, which remains a heartland for Shell,” she said

Speaking on the milestone, the Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Osagie Okunbor, commended the resilience, focus, and dedication of the entire SNEPCo team, most of whom are Nigerians.

“I feel a strong sense of pride knowing that today, over 95 per cent of SNEPCo staff, including those working on the Bonga FPSO, are trained Nigerian deep-water professionals, who daily contribute their quota, in the development of Nigeria’s deep-water hydrocarbon resources. The entire team should be incredibly proud of themselves,” Okunbor said.

$562 million remitted in 2022

In 2022 alone, SNEPCo remitted $562 million in corporate tax and payments to government, and another $23 million to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC.) SNEPCo’s operations have inspired several significant discoveries of oil and gas over the last two decades, including the Bolia and Nwa Doro fields, in each of which Nigeria has 55 percent interest.

SNEPCo has awarded major engineering and construction contracts to indigenous companies, such that the manufacture and rebuild of hydraulic flying leads and refurbishment of old subsea trees are being carried out in-country by wholly indigenous companies.

Over 1,150 students have benefited from both the NNPC-SNEPCo National Cradle-to-Career and the NNPC-SNEPCo National University scholarships since inception of the programme in 2016. These scholarship programmes are part of SNEPCo’s social investments.

They aim to promote academic excellence and improve the skills of young Nigerians with a view to building a competent skill pool for the oil and gas industry. In 2022 also, Nigeria’s Tertiary Education Trust Fund presented an award to SNEPCo for consistent contributions towards the growth of the public tertiary education sector. In 2019, the company launched the Vision First Initiative, taking medical eyecare to various parts of the country.

The latest outreach in the programme was held in Lagos recently with more than 2000 people benefitting.