Home to major offshore oil and gas fields, Nigeria has long played a vital role in the global energy sector. With key oil-producing fields across Nigeria, including the Bonga, Agbami, Egina, Akpo and Erha fields, the country’s economy relies heavily on the energy sector. A key company that has been developing Nigeria’s energy sector is Shell plc, which has been present across the country’s entire energy chain for more than 50 years. Under its subsidiary, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo), Shell has been pioneering the country’s deep-water development at the Bonga field, which today, along with the Erha field, is responsible for nearly one-third of Nigeria’s deep-water production. Therefore, as a key player enhancing Nigeria’s deepwater development, SNEPCo is focused on unlocking the country’s energy potential for the future.
Check out the article in the magazine below:
SNEPCo was formed in 1993 to transform Nigeria’s deepwater oil and gas resources, and so the company has spent the last 33 years focused on delivering vital exploration and production projects across Nigeria’s offshore energy sector. Today, SNEPCo has made significant discoveries towards the development of Nigeria’s offshore energy sector, producing oil and gas resources in depths of up to 2,500 metres. The bulk of SNEPCo’s operations centres on the Bonga and Erha fields. The Bonga field is operated by SNEPCo in partnership with Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Ltd. (20%), Nigerian Agip Exploration Ltd. (12.5%) and TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Ltd. (12.5%), who work on behalf of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC). The deep-water development is located in OML 188, at water depths of more than 1000 metres. The development is supported by the Bonga Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) facility, which began production in 2005, which Shell operates with a 55% interest, and has a capacity to deliver 225,000 barrels of oil per day.
Last year, we saw SNEPCo announce it was to increase its interest in the Bonga field following the signing of an agreement with TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited in May. The agreement outlines SNEPCo acquiring TotalEnergies’ 12.5% stake in the OML 118 Product Sharing Contract (OML 118 PSC) mining lease offshore Nigeria that includes the Bonga field. Upon completion of the transaction, Shell’s interest in the OML 118 PSC block will rise from 55% to 67.5%. In the announcement outlining the agreement between TotalEnergies EP Nigeria and SNEPCo, Peter Costello, the President of Shell’s Upstream division, outlined that “Following our final investment decision on Bonga North last year, this acquisition brings another significant investment in Nigeria deep-water that contributes to sustained liquids production and growth in our Upstream portfolio.”
Costello’s comments highlight how vital the acquisition of more of the Bonga development is to help Shell enhance its role in Nigeria’s deep-water development sector. SNEPCo announced in November 2025 that the acquisition had been completed. For Shell, this investment contributes towards the company’s growing integrated gas and upstream production capabilities, which it is aiming to increase by 1% per year to 2030. In addition, it will also help sustain SNEPCo’s production of 1.4 million barrels per day of liquids production, and in the process, position the country as a key hub for energy development.
In February 2026, SNEPCo began turnaround maintenance activities at the Bonga FPSO vessel. These maintenance activities included statutory inspections, certification and regulatory compliance checks, as well as major asset integrity upgrades and engineering modifications. The upgrades and modifications are designed to improve the long-term operations and subsea assurance activities of the FPSO. The last time such turnaround maintenance activity was conducted on the FPSO was in October 2022, just a few months before it delivered its 1 billionth barrel of oil since it commenced production in 2005. However, following SNEPCo and its co-venture partners reaching a Final Investment Decision for a subsea tie-back development in Bonga North in 2024, the project depends on the reliability and enhanced capacity of the Bonga FPSO. Therefore, the development, maintenance and upgrades of the FPSO are designed to support the vital progress being made in the Bonga North Development.
Speaking on the scheduled maintenance, SNEPCo Managing Director, Ronald Adams, outlined that “The schedule maintenance activity is designed to ensure the FPSO continues to operate safely and efficiently for the next 15 years, while reducing unplanned deferments and strengthening the asset’s overall resilience”. Adams’ comments highlight just how vital such maintenance and upgrades are for the Bonga FPSO, as it is pivotal in supporting SNEPCo’s long-term success over the coming years. The turnaround maintenance was completed in March, 11 days ahead of schedule, reinforcing SNEPCo’s long-standing commitment to operational excellence and asset integrity for the continued development and support of Nigeria’s offshore oil and gas production operations.
Alongside the Bonga development, SNEPCo also has key operations in the Erha field and the Erha North satellite fields. These fields, located roughly 97km offshore Nigeria at depths ranging between 1000m and 1200m, were the first deepwater offshore field development for Nigeria. The OML 133 Contract Areas containing the Erha Development is operated by Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (EEPNL), who hold a 56.25% participating interest, with SNEPCo holding the remaining 43.7% share.
The Erha field is estimated to hold 500 million barrels of combined recoverable oil reserves. Therefore, the exploration project spans three drill sites, comprising 30 subsea wells which are tied back to the Erha FPSO vessel. The FPSO has a designed storage capacity of 2.2 million barrels of crude oil, and its designed oil processing capacity is 210,000 barrels per day. In 2015, the Erha North Phase Two development project was completed, seeing the existing Erha North Subsea system and infrastructure expand, including the installation of associated subsea facilities, a new drilling centre and modifications to the existing FPSO unit. On completion, the Erha field’s capacity was expanded to produce a total of 90,000 barrels of oil a day. Therefore, SNEPCo’s developments across Erha and its continued expansion now deliver vital combined oil reserves for Nigeria, supported by the company’s commitment to deepwater exploration projects.
As SNEPCo looks towards the future, the company confirmed that the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has agreed to the conversion of Oil Prospecting License 245 (OPL 245), which resulted in the granting of two development leases (Petroleum Mining Leases (PML) 102 and 103), as well as two exploration licences (Petroleum Licences (PPL) 2011 and 2012). The license has been granted to Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited (NAE), as well as SNEPCo and the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC). SNEPCo will work alongside Eni, which is the operator, to help progress the assessment of technical and economic feasibility within the license and explore further development, whilst helping to develop the resources already discovered to date. The leases highlight Shell’s growing portfolio of offshore projects spanning Nigeria.
In 2025, SNEPCo and Sunlink Energies and Resources Limited announced a Final Investment Decision (FID) on the Hi Gas project offshore Nigeria. The HI Project is part of a joint venture held between Sunlink Energies and Resources Limited (60%) and SNEPCo (40%) and comprises a wellhead with four wells to be installed at the HI field location, along with a pipeline to transport the multiphase gas to the onshore Bonny Gas Processing Plant. Gas from the Bonny Gas Processing Plant will then be transported to Nigeria LNG, a joint venture between Shell (25.6%), NNPC (49%), TotalEnergies (15%) and ENI (10.4%), and the condensate to the Bonny Oil and Gas Export Terminal. Upon completion, the project would supply 350 million standard cubic feet of gas per day at peak production to Nigeria LNG. Nigeria LNG would then produce and export the liquefied natural gas (LNG) to global markets. Production is expected to begin before the end of the decade and will expand the Bonny Island terminal’s production capacity. This development is in line with Shell’s overall plans to grow its global LNG volumes by an average of 4-5% per year until 2030.
Speaking on the FID reached between SNEPCo and Sunlink Energies and Resources Limited, Peter Costello, Shell’s Upstream President, outlines, “Following recent investment decision related to the Bonga deep-water development, today’s announcement demonstrates our continued commitment to Nigeria’s energy sector, with a focus on Deepwater and Integrated Gas.” Costello continues, “This Upstream project will help Shell grow our leading Integrated Gas portfolio, while supporting Nigeria’s plans to become a more significant player in the global LNG market.” As we can see from Costello’s comments, the project is a vital development for the future of Nigeria’s energy development, and adds yet another vital development to SNEPCo’s diverse asset portfolio spanning the country’s energy sector.
With oil and gas being so vital to Nigeria’s economy, SNEPCo is delivering key deep-water projects along Nigeria’s coastline. From the company’s continued development of the Bonga and Erha fields, SNEPCo have been delivering valuable resources for the development of the country, supported by Shell’s existing energy infrastructure in the country to make energy more accessible and reliable. With the recent expansion of its projects towards LNG development, SNEPCo can utilise its expertise in deepwater development to bring vital oil and gas resources to Nigeria’s energy market.
Add Comment