Shell Nigeria shuts Bonga oil field in Nigeria

Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) halted production at Nigeria’s Bonga oil field on March 4 for maintenance that will last at least a month, Reuters report.

SNEPCo said in a statement that Bonga, which has capacity to produce 225,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil and 150 million standard cubic feet (scf) of gas, is expected to resume production at at some point in April, without giving further details.

Market sources had expected work on the field because there were no exports planned in March, compared with typical exports of roughly 200,000 barrels per day (bpd).

Bonga produced an average of 192,500 bpd of oil in 2015, according to the latest annual data from Nigerian state oil company NNPC.

The Bonga Field is an oilfield in Nigeria.

It was located in License block OPL 212 off the Nigerian coast, which was renamed OML 118 in February 2000.

The field covers approximately 60 km2 in an average water depth of 1,000 metres (3,300 ft).

The field was discovered in 1996, with government approval for its development given in 2002. The field began first production in November 2005.

The field is produced via a FPSO vessel.

The field produces both petroleum and natural gas; the petroleum is offloaded to tankers while the gas is piped back to Nigeria where it is exported via an LNG plant.

The field contains approximately 6,000 mm barrels of oil.

The field is operated by Shell Nigeria who own 55% of the license. The other partners in the field development are Exxon (20%), Nigerian AGIP (12.5%) and Elf Petroleum Nigeria Limited (12.5%)