– Project proves world-class coating now not wants journey overseas, says NUPRC
– Lokpobiri: reforms restoring investor confidence as EPC companies return after exit
Peter Uzoho
Shell’s $5 billion Bonga North deepwater improvement has recorded main progress with the completion of its pipe coating marketing campaign at Onne, Rivers State, by the subcontractor, Tenaris.
The milestone positions Nigeria to unlock 110,000 barrels per day in new manufacturing from the subsea tie-back to the Bonga Main Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO).
The achievement was celebrated not too long ago alongside the twenty fifth anniversary of Tenaris in Nigeria and the inauguration of the upgraded five-layer thermal insulation plant by Pipe Coaters Nigeria Limited (PCNL), a subsidiary of Tenaris, an funding of $10 million.
THISDAY learnt the coating marketing campaign, executed fully in-country, concerned coating of manufacturing strains with five-layer thermal insulation and water injection strains with three-layer polypropylene anti-corrosion programs to worldwide requirements, confirming Nigeria’s capability to ship complicated deepwater infrastructure regionally.
Speaking on the event, Bonga North Project Director, Ian Kellagher, representing the Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo), Ronald Adams, mentioned the completion had nationwide implications past the challenge.
Kellagher described Bonga North as a subsea improvement tied again to the Bonga Main FPSO facility in 1,000 metres water depth, with recoverable reserves anticipated to ship peak manufacturing of 110,000 bpd following Final Investment Decision (FID) in December 2024.
Shell expects first oil from the asset by finish of the last decade. Bonga North improvement holds estimated recoverable useful resource volumes of greater than 300 million barrels of oil equal (boe).
The challenge is among the mega deepwater tasks on which the federal authorities and the business are banking on to carry Nigeria’s oil manufacturing to three million barrels per day by 2030.
Kellagher mentioned the profitable coating in Onne means PCNL now possessed a world-class five-layer system in a position to compete for future deepwater tasks globally, with companions working seamlessly to deal with technical, well being, security, surroundings and logistics challenges.
He mentioned the event demonstrated that Nigeria had each the folks and industrial functionality to execute highest high quality deepwater tasks with out exporting jobs and expenditure.
Managing Director of Tenaris Nigeria, Rosario Osobase, described the day as three milestones telling a single story of dedication, functionality, and partnership.
Osobase mentioned Tenaris was celebrating 25 years of progress, partnership, innovation, and shared success in Nigeria, shifting from a service supplier to a deepwater coating and insulation hub at Onne.
She mentioned the inauguration of the thermal insulation plant mirrored Tenaris’ confidence in Nigeria, whereas the Bonga North coating marketing campaign demonstrated what world-class expertise and native experience might obtain when mixed.
She acknowledged that each milestone was made attainable by staff previous and current and by establishments championing native functionality, including that the brand new facility is an funding in folks and long-term partnerships for the following era of deepwater tasks.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, who inaugurated the plant, mentioned authorities had modified the narrative from funding decline to restoration, with Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) corporations returning and several other tasks approaching stream between 2023 and 2026.
Lokpobiri mentioned precedence will now be given to corporations with confirmed in-country capability and tools, stressing that retention of petroleum expenditure, expert jobs and expertise switch should drive challenge execution.
Executive Commissioner for Production and Development, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Enorense Armadasu, representing Commission Chief Executive, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, mentioned Bonga North answered the query of whether or not Nigeria might ship complicated deepwater tasks to world requirements.
Armadasu mentioned the challenge showcaseed partnership the place SNEPCo and three way partnership companions labored shoulder to shoulder with indigenous capability, a mannequin he mentioned the fee was institutionalising below the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 with over 15 excessive affect rules.
He mentioned a number of offshore tasks, together with Bonga SouthWest, Zabazaba, Bosi and Preowei, had been anticipated to attract tens of billions of {dollars} by 2030, all requiring subsea infrastructure and services, just like the Onne plant.
“The pipelines that will carry Bonga North production have been coated and qualified to international standards right here in Onne,” Armadasu mentioned.
He added, “That is not merely a project milestone, it is a declaration of industrial capability.”
Armadasu acknowledged, “This plant just isn’t constructed for one marketing campaign; it’s constructed for a era of them. Its presence tells each operator that world-class deepwater coating now not requires a voyage overseas.
“To Tenaris, you have positioned yourself at the front of a decade-long queue of opportunity that will define Nigeria’s next deepwater chapter.”
