•Local content opportunities swell
•TotalEnergies’ optimistic about Ntokon FID, rallies FG, agencies
After sanctioning a $5 billion Bonga North deepwater project in Nigeria’s Niger Delta in December 2024, Shell yesterday, announced that it would be proceeding with a Final Investment Decision (FID) on the Bonga Southwest project by 2027.
The General Manager, Contracting and Procurement at Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo), Mr. Charles Oranyeli, disclosed this in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State during his presentation at the ongoing Nigerian Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair (NOGOF) 2025 organised by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).
Similarly, TotalEnergies expressed optimism in taking an FID on its recently discovered oil field, Ntokon, saying it was currently in consultation with the federal government and the relevant agencies to make that happen.
The two oil majors made the announcements while showcasing the local content opportunities that abound in their projects, both the ones carried out in the past, the ones ongoing and the ones being expected, in line with the objective of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act of 2010.
The theme of the conference was, “Driving Investment and Production Growth: Shaping Sustainable Future for Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry through Indigenous Capacity Development.”
Reeling out his organisation’s projects in Nigeria, located on the oil mining lease (OML) 118, with immense local content opportunities, Oranyeli mentioned the Bonga Main, Bonga North and Bonga South West.
For Bonga Main, he said Shell wants to extend the life of the asset, which he said required carrying a Turn-Around Maintenance (TAM) in the first quarter of 2026.
He added that the company would use the opportunity of the TAM to ensure that they deal with the critical systems that would allow Bonga to produce for another 15 years.
“So, we have a lot of opportunities around all the normal things we do in the turnaround maintenance.
“So, we’ll see a bit of the detail around these opportunities like security vessels, barges, hotels, and of course helicopter services,” Oranyeli said.
On OML 135, he said Shell was still in the feasibility phase, pointing out that there are great opportunities for local contractors in the project.
For shallow water projects expected between 2025 and 2030, he listed the H1 asset, which is located in OML 144 where Shell has a joint venture with Sunlink.
According to the general manager, the project holds huge job opportunities for local firms in such areas as drilling wells, wells re-entry among others, but we are actually leveraging existing infrastructure to ensure that.
Oranyeli further said, “So that’s also a good one for people who want to look at opportunities in the sector. So, where we are in terms of all our projects? Again, remember I talked about Bonga Main life extension.
“We need to ensure that within 15 years, we have our Bonga full, getting us back to even the 225,000 barrels of oil a day. And that’s why we have a lot of this further development opportunities, which we have matured.
“Like I said earlier, Bonga North Tranche 1, we’ve already taken FID, it’s now where we are trying to execute.
“Again, Bonga Southwest will take FID by 2027, and so we’re working all the concepts together to get it in.” [ThisDay]
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