Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) achieved significant savings in the cost of subsea equipment through an initiative, which has seen the refurbishment of five Subsea Trees in-country led by Nigerian engineers.
A Subsea Tree is an arrangement of valves and other components installed at the wellhead to control and monitor production/injection flow. SNEPCo embarked on a Tree Refurbishment initiative in 2013 to ensure timely delivery of the equipment at lower cost for the Bonga Phase 2 project. This project comprises drilling and hook-up of in-field wells within Bonga.
SNEPCo saves about USD 6M for every refurbished Subsea Tree, and this is delivered within 15 months as against 36 months for newly manufactured ones.
SNEPCo helped to create the first generation of Nigerian deep water professionals through the Bonga project, which started production in 2005. This was Nigeria’s first deep water oil and gas production project in more than 1,000 metres of water. To sustain production and keep the Bonga Floating Production Storage Offloading (FPSO) vessel full, additional in-field wells have been delivered as part of the Bonga Phases 2, 3 and Bonga North West projects, all producing through the Bonga FPSO.