SNEPCo Attributes Success of Bonga to Effective Leadership

Peter Uzoho

Bonga, Nigeria’s first deep-water oil asset development has said the company is an outstanding producer due to effective leadership, cutting-edge technology, continuous improvement, integrated delivery and collaboration with partners and stakeholders.
Managing Director, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Company Limited (SNEPCo), Elohor Aiboni, stated  this yesterday during a presentation at the ongoing Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, Texas, United States.
Since coming on stream in November 2005, Bonga has maintained a track record of production that saw it achieve 1 billion barrels of export on February 13, 2023.

 Aiboni reflected on the success factors that enabled the milestone in a presentation titled: “The Bonga Journey to a Billion Barrels.”
Aiboni noted that Bonga has been consistent, recalling that in 2014, nine years after coming on-stream, it achieved half a billion barrels of crude and doubled it in 2023.
“We have worked relentlessly to ensure excellent asset management, project and wells delivery and deployment of technology and innovations in our operations.
“These factors, coupled with the supportive partnership of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and our co-venturers – TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited; Nigerian Agip Exploration; and Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, make Bonga stand out as a world-class investment case”, she said.

Aiboni added that SNEPCo also enjoyed the support of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) in the success of Bonga operations.
She spoke of the challenges of keeping the Bonga Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel full as the asset ages and dealing with unexpected developments with subsea wells and equipment.

“SNEPCo responded with a campaign of operational excellence, which among other initiatives, led to the creation of a programme known as the Bonga Business Improvement Plan that continually reviews and identifies improvement initiatives and drives sustainability in operations and upskilling of staff”, she noted.
Aiboni pointed out that Bonga’s success story had been led by Nigerians who have been managing directors of SNEPCo since it was established in 1993, in a deliberate policy by Shell to develop indigenous manpower for deep-water operations in Nigeria.
She maintained that today, some 97 per cent of the SNEPCo workforce is Nigerian and overall, Bonga has helped to create a new generation of Nigerian deep-water professionals.

 “Our vision at SNEPCo remains to be the best deep-water business, powering growth and achieving net zero emissions in line with Shell’s Powering Progress strategy”, Aiboni added.