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

When completed, the project to harness more than 300 million barrels of oil reserve will add 110,000 barrels per day (bpd) to Nigeria’s daily oil output.

Zoë Yujnovich, Shell UK’s Integrated Gas and Upstream Director, disclosed this in a statement made available to journalists on Monday.

According to Mr Yujnovich, 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.

He said the Bonga North project involved drilling, completing and starting up 16 wells (eight production and eight water injection wells), modifications to the existing Bonga Main FPSO, and installing 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,” he said.

Mr Yujnovich added that Bonga North would help to ensure Shell’s leading Integrated Gas and Upstream business continued to drive cash generation into the next decade.

(NAN)