Shell producing 514,000 bpd in Nigeria

Oil major, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) says it has grown its oil output to an average of 514,000 barrels per day (bpd).

The company has also developed more capacity to produce more, the Chairman of Shell Companies in Nigeria (SCiN), Osagie Okunbor, has said.

Okunbor pointed out that SPDC achieved the feat last year when its production rose more than 10 per cent to 514,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) due to enhanced exploration and production activities.

Aso, the Managing Director, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo), Mr. Bayo Ojulari, has advised industry players and firms ready to be creative and collaborate have immense business opportunities in providing quality solutions to the challenges that the oil and gas industry faces in implementing local content as required by the Nigerian Oil & Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act.

At the 12th PSRG–Richardson Health, Safety, Security and Environment (HSSE) Forum, which had as theme “Nigerian Content Development: Facing the future”, he said while there is increasing support, regulations are going to get stricter to ensure compliance by firms.

“There are areas where we can quickly close gaps identified in local content implementations”, Ojulari reiterated at the forum, which held as a webinar due to health protocols induced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He stressed the need for collaboration among Nigerian firms as a reliable way to harness the different skills that will grow the industry. “Collaboration is key to unlocking value. Don’t do it all alone, you always benefit from partnering,” he said.

Several leading industry players at the webinar highlighted that “local content is a marathon and not a sprint”, with Ojulari underlining the need to reinforce established processes and framework that will lead to achieving the goals of Nigerian Content.

He reminded indigenous firms to continue to invest in improving the quality of their products and services. He said: “We cannot implement Local Content at the expense of quality. Don’t compromise on quality or safety. Instead, have a system in place to manage both quality and safety.”

With the extension of the implementation of Nigerian Content to other industries, like mines, power and information technology, Mr. Ojulari projected that there is more potential for success in these industries if the learnings from the pioneering example of the oil and gas industry are applied.

“The oil and gas industry is very complex and highly technical. With the success achieved in the oil and gas industry, other industries have good example to follow,” he said.

On gas production, SPDC said it fed the domestic market and the export market through the Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) plant, adding that it supplied approximately 50 per cent of the NLNG plant’s capacity.

The company’s gas feed to the NLNG facility in Bonny Island in Rivers State comes largely from the Gbaran-Ubie and Soku plants in Bayelsa and Rivers states.

According to the publication, gas production from Soku facility increased from 100 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscf/d) in 2018 to 350MMScf/d in 2019.

The SPDC indicated that the improved oil output was due to addition of 106 producing wells within its oil blocks in the Niger Delta.

SPDC stated that within the period under review, the Trans Ramos Pipeline which conveyed crude to its Focados oil export terminal was reopened.

It further said the Gbaran-Ubie gas plant in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, achieved peak production with 175,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

SPDC said it had the largest oil production asset in the country and operated a leased area of 31,000 square kilometres from which it produced while working to increase capability by investing in exploration and production activities.

The report said: “The SPDC JV’s assets include: 340 producing oil wells consisting of !97 land, 181 west and 62 central assets, 56 producing gas wells (10 land, three west and 43 central assets).

“A network of approximately 4,000 kilometres of oil and gas pipelines and flow lines; the assets include 10 gas plants, two major oil export terminals, Bonny and Focados and an additional export facility of a shallow water Floating Production Storage and Offloading Vessel christened ‘Sea Eagle’ currently stationed off Bayelsa coastlines as well as one power plant.”