Good news as Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo) has reopened the 225,000 barrel-per-day capacity Bonga oilfield after a turnaround maintenance which lasted for over one month. The turnaround maintenance was aimed at ensuring that the oilfield produces at its maximum capacity, a feat that has eluded the field for some time.
According to Shell, the turnaround maintenance which was the fourth since Bonga field begin operation in November 2005 focused more on the Bonga Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, which is at the heart of Bonga operations.
Bonga field was shut down early March 2017 and has without any doubt reduced the country’s crude oil production by about 200,000 barrels per day. This estimate is based on average production capacity of the oilfield being operated by SNEPCO under Production Sharing Contract (PSC) for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) before it was shut down for turnaround maintenance last month.
According to the company’s Managing Director, Mr. Bayo Ojulari, the turnaround maintenance is aimed at ensuring optimal production with focus on safety and other invaluable benefits.
In his words: “The exercise will help ensure sustained production and reduced unscheduled production deferments. For the Bonga team, this is another opportunity to excel, having won the ‘Asset of the Year’ Award 2016 in the Shell Group, followed by runners-up in Norway and Malaysia. We are pleased that the award recognised the continuing collaboration towards optimum production with a focus on safety, cost and Nigerian content development which will be invaluable in the maintenance work,”
Now that the oilfield is back in operation as promised, Nigerian government is sure of more earnings from crude oil and we hope all accrued revenue would be judiciously used.
[pt_view id=”abaaee9arp”]