Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) has approved the Final Investment Decision (FID) for the Bonga South West / Aparo (BSWA) deepwater project. This decision advances development in water depths up to 1,400 meters. It’s located approximately 135 km offshore Nigeria in OML 118.
This was revealed by Jerome Okolo, CEO & Co-Founder at Safi Africa Energy. He states the BSWA development centers on a newbuild Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, The vessel measures approximately 337 m long, 65 m wide, and 37 m deep. It has a displacement of 560,000 tonnes and a topsides weight of 40,000 tonnes.
Designed for a minimum 25-year field life without drydocking and 40-year fatigue life, the FPSO features oil processing capacity of 225,000 bpd. It handles natural gas up to 270 MMscf/d and water injection at 400,000 bpd. The FPSO also has 2.45–2.5 million barrels of crude storage. Subsea infrastructure includes up to 24 wells (22 water injection). There is 85 km of pipelay, 65 km of umbilicals, and 98 km of gas export pipeline. Total recoverable resources are estimated at 820 million barrels of oil. Phased developments potentially yield up to 3.2 billion barrels.
Estimated at $10 billion in capital expenditure, the project integrates advanced marine systems, hull heating, HVAC, and riser protection. It complies with Nigeria’s local content mandates and surpasses precedents like Egina FPSO. Peak production is projected at 150,000–225,000 bpd. This supports Nigeria’s goal of adding 1 million bpd to national output.
This FID follows the $5 billion Bonga North project approved in December 2024, targeting 110,000 bpd peak from 16 wells. It aims for 300+ million boe recoverable by 2030 via modifications to the existing Bonga Main FPSO.[3] Historical delays from oil price volatility, fiscal terms, and regulatory issues have been overcome. This reinforces SNEPCo’s deepwater strategy with partners ExxonMobil (20%), Eni (12.5%), and TotalEnergies (12.5%).
