Shell Nigeria-led Bonga North West deep-water development honored

The Bonga North West deep-water oil-drilling development recently won two awards in the U.S and Qatar, Shell Nigeria said this week.

The Platts Global Energy Awards named it the Engineering Project of the Year 2015, and it won the silver prize for the Project Integration Excellence Award at the International Petroleum Technology Conference in Doha, Qatar.

Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) -- along with partners Esso Exploration & Production Nigeria (Deepwater) Ltd., Total E&P Nigeria Ltd. and Nigerian Agip Exploration Ltd. -- launched the Bonga North West project in 2014.

“We are pleased that the achievements at Bonga North West have been accorded global recognition,” SNEPCo Managing Director Bayo Ojulari said. “Bonga North West is a testament to an effective approach to project delivery, with a focus on safety, cost and an efficient contracting process.”

The project is part of the larger Bonga vessel, which drilled and connected new wells down more than a kilometer below the surface of the ocean. During the first four years of its development, 90 percent of the workforce came from Nigeria, including engineering, construction and production services.