Author: Gist Correspondent

Nigeria’s crude oil exports are set to decline by about 225,000 barrels per day in February following the shutdown of the Bonga Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel for scheduled turnaround maintenance.

The temporary shutdown will also reduce gas output by approximately 150 million standard cubic feet per day during the maintenance period, according to Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Ltd. (SNEPCo).

Confirming the development in a statement on Sunday, SNEPCo’s Communications Manager, Mrs. Gladys Afam-Anadu, said the company had commenced a statutory turnaround maintenance programme on the Bonga FPSO. She explained that the exercise was an integrity assurance process aimed at extending the operational lifespan of the facility.

SNEPCo Managing Director, Ronald Adams, said the maintenance was critical to ensuring the continued safe and efficient operation of the asset for another 15 years. He noted that the exercise was designed to reduce unplanned production deferments and enhance the overall resilience of the facility.

“We expect to resume production in March following the completion of the turnaround maintenance,” Adams said.

According to him, the scope of work includes inspections, certification, regulatory compliance checks, integrity upgrades, engineering modifications, and subsea assurance activities. He added that the Bonga FPSO, located about 120 kilometres offshore in water depths exceeding 1,000 metres, has a production capacity of 225,000 barrels of oil per day and 150 million standard cubic feet of gas per day.

Adams stressed that maintaining the facility remains vital to Nigeria’s production stability, energy security, and revenue generation objectives. He further noted that the importance of the FPSO’s reliability has increased following the 2024 Final Investment Decision on the Bonga North project.

“The turnaround maintenance will also prepare the asset to accommodate additional volumes from the Bonga North subsea tie-back development,” he said.

The SNEPCo boss recalled that the last turnaround maintenance on the facility was carried out in October 2022, adding that on February 1, 2023, the Bonga asset produced its one billionth barrel of oil since operations commenced in 2005.

SNEPCo operates the Bonga field in partnership with Esso and Nigerian Agip Exploration under a production sharing contract with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.).