Production from the field is expected to contribute about 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited, SNEPCo, the Shell Nigeria deep-water offshore exploration and production subsidiary, on Wednesday announced the commencement of oil production from the first well at the Bonga North West deep-water development projects.

Located in oil mining lease, OML 118, approximately 75 miles offshore Nigeria, production from the field is expected to contribute about 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day and help to maintain the facility’s overall output

Shell’s Upstream International Director, Andrew Brown, said Bonga North-West represents a significant step forward for the project and another milestone for the country’s energy industry.

“This is an excellent addition to our deep-water portfolio – a key growth theme for Shell’s world-wide upstream business,” Mr. Brown said “It’s also good news for Nigeria, as it is a new source of oil revenues and strengthens Nigeria’s deep-water expertise, a key driver of economic development.”

Oil from the Bonga North West is developed by 12 subsea wells tied-back into a new undersea pipeline to the existing Bonga floating production, storage and offloading, FPSO export facility.

The project is reputed to be Nigeria’s first deep-water development in water depths of over 2,953 to 3,937 feet.

Four oil producing wells and two water injection wells in the Bonga North West development will be connected to the FPSO, from where oil is loaded onto tankers for shipping around the world.

The Bonga project is operated by SNEPCo, which holds a 55 per cent stake with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.

Other partners in the joint venture under a Production Sharing Contract (PSC) include Esso Exploration & Production Nigeria (Deepwater) Limited (20 per cent), Total E&P Nigeria Limited (12.5 per cent) and Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited (12.5 per cent).

Offshore contract for the subsea development of the Bonga North-West project was awarded to Saipem in 2009 for over $200 million.

The contract included engineering, procurement, fabrication, installation and pre-commissioning services for 8 miles of 10-inch/12-inch production pipe-in-pipe flowlines, 2 miles of 12-inch-diameter water injection flowlines as well as related production facilities.

The contract also includes the installation of 9 miles (about 15 kilometers) of umbilicals.