The Bonga area under Oil Mining Lease (OML) 118 off Nigeria’s coast is a deep-water hydrocarbon region where production and staged field expansions have been developed under newer commercial terms. A package of renewal and settlement agreements signed in May 2021 reset the fiscal and contractual framework for OML 118. This also created legal and investment conditions for follow-on projects.
Building on that foundation, global oil and gas company, Shell, via SNEPCo, and other majors have advanced a sequence of expansion developments. Most notable is Bonga North, a subsea tie-back to the existing Bonga FPSO that reached a final investment decision (FID) in December 2024.
Subsequent equity adjustments and programs milestones through 2025 have also further clarified ownership and execution plans. The Bonga North development adds new wells and subsea infrastructure to extend field life and raise production capacity. Additionally, other prospects in the block, including Bonga South-West (Aparo), remain in the development pipeline. Shell and Sunlink also recently reached FID on the HI Gas Project.
Timeline for Bonga Area (OML 118) in Nigeria
May 2021: NNPC and OML 118 partners sign a package of agreements. These included PSC renewal, settlement and related instruments. This renewed the OML 118 license for 20 years and resolved commercial disputes. This package also established commercial framework for future expansions in the Bonga area.
2021 – 2023: Appraisal, engineering and FEED-stage work progresses on subsea areas within OML 118. These include Bonga North and Bonga South-West (Aparo).
December 2024: Final Investment Decision (FID) taken on Bonga North. Development plan featured subsea tie-backs to the existing Bonga FPSO. This is with approximately 16 wells for production and injection. FPSO modifications and new subsea hardware were also included in the plan. Timeline was also set, targeting first oil before end of 2030.
Early 2025: Operator planning and preparatory work continue. Schedules also set for FPSO modifications and drilling campaign sequencing.
May 2025: Shell announces intent to increase its interest in OML 118 by acquiring a portion of TotalEnergies’ position.
September 2025: Nigerian authorities approve the agreed stake transfers. This confirmed the revised partner ownership split. It also cleared a key regulatory step for project execution.
2026: Major maintenance and FPSO upgrade activities scheduled to support tie-ins and life-extension work on the Bonga Main FPSO. This is ahead of peak drilling and production phases.
2027 onward: Bonga South-West (Aparo) targets further FID consideration. Also eyes contingent on appraisal results, partner decisions and market conditions.
Bonga Oil and Gas Field Expansion Project in Nigeria Deferred For Two Years
Reported November 30, 2022 – The proposed extension of the Bonga Oil and Gas Field that is located in License block OPL 212 off the Nigerian coast has been postponed for two more years following a delay in the tendering process.
This was revealed by a senior official at the state oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPC). The official also said that in May 2021, a deal was signed with Shell Petroleum Development Company along with its partners. The deal came after the project was shelved for some time due to a long-standing tax disputes.
“After the dispute was resolved, Shell invited bids for the construction of new floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit for the Bonga Southwest deep-water oil field.”
“The response to the tender had however been underwhelming, and there has been a delay in progressing with the tendering process as a result. The tenders have therefore been put on hold till around 2024,” explained the official.
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There are also speculations that the delay could be a result of a change in Shell’s upstream strategy as part of its net-zero ambitions.
Bonga Oil and Gas Field Production Issues
Bonga Oil and Gas Field is Nigeria’s first deep-water oil field. It was discovered in 1996. First production began in November 2005 through an FPSO vessel. It currently has the capacity to produce 225,000 b/d of crude oil and 150 MMcf/d of gas. This is fed to the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) plant at Bonny.
Developing Bonga Southwest, which Shell planned to carry out in three phases, was set to add around 1 billion barrels to the West African country’s oil reserves. The output from the field was one of the projects Nigeria was banking on to raise production to around 3 million b/d by 2023.
Anglo-Dutch Shell Opens Bid for Nigeria’s US$12bn Bonga South West project
Reported 2014 – Anglo-Dutch Shell oil and Gas Company has started the contract award process for the construction of Floating Production Storage and Offloading, FPSO for its US$12billion Bonga South West Aparo development in Nigeria.
Nigeria’s Shell Deepwater General Manager Mr. Jerry Jackson stated that this single-point moored facility project is expected to be the world’s biggest FPSO. He also revealed that Samsung and Hyundai were bidders.
Bonga is located in oil prospecting licence, OPL 212. Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company, SNEPCO, operates the field on behalf of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC. The project is under a production sharing contract, PSC. This is in partnership with Esso at 20 %, Nigeria Agip at 12.5 %, and Total at 12.5 %.
According to the OTC 2014 Journal, the oil major “already was known to be well underway with plans to develop its estimated US$12 billion Bonga South West-Aparo discovery via one new build FPSO vessel, with significant Nigerian content levels.
Bonga also lies 120km southwest of the Niger Delta in a water depth of over 1,000m. Former Managing Director, SNEPCO, Mr. Chike Onyejekwe, had once said that Shell achieved tremendous success in its Bonga deep water oil field. Chike revealed that exports of about 450 million barrels of crude oil has been done as of December 2012.
The cost of the Bonga field development, including the cost of the FPSO vessel built in 2004, came to US$3.6bn. Despite the fact that the drilling of the 19 oil wells would amount to US$12.35bn, the Bonga extension project, according to Shell, may gulp around US$33bn.
The NNPC had also directed International Oil Companies, IOCs, operating in the country to drastically cut over US$30bn proposed for new projects. This was in early 2013.
