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Shell suspends Bonga project over fallen oil prices

05 Feb 2016, 03:05 pm
Chibuike Oguh
Shell suspends Bonga project over fallen oil prices

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- The $12 billion Bonga project includes a new floating production, storage, and offloading facility.

- In addition to cutting capital spending, Shell said it would cut over 10,000 jobs, globally.

Bonga Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, Nigeria

Royal Dutch Shell, one of the world’s largest publicly traded companies, has postponed the final investment decision (FID) on its Nigeria-based Bonga South-West deep-water project.

The $12 billion Bonga project includes the construction of a new floating production, storage, and offloading facility with an expected peak production of 225,000 barrels of oil per day. Shell is the unit operator of the Bonga oil field, which has other shareholders including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Total Nigeria, Nigeria Agip Exploration, Texaco Nigeria, etc., according to a report on Shell’s website.

Speaking during the presentation of Shell’s 2015 full-year results on Thursday, Ben Van Beurden, Shell’s CEO, said low oil prices forced the company to slash capital spending and reduce the number of pending final investment decisions in 2015.

“For 2016, we have exited the Bab sour gas project in Abu Dhabi, and are postponing final investment decisions on LNG Canada and Bonga South West in deep water Nigeria,” Van Beurden said. “Operating costs and capital investment have been reduced by a total of $12.5 billion as compared to 2014, and we expect further reductions in 2016.”

In the 2015 full year, Shell reported that its profits fell by 87 percent to $1.94 billion, compared with $14.87 billion reported in 2014.

In addition to cutting capital spending, Shell said it would cut over 10,000 jobs globally or about 10 percent of its workforce in response to low oil prices, which have fallen by over 70 percent in the past 19 months.

“We are pulling on powerful financial levers to manage the company in the industry downturn,” Van Beurden said. “We are reducing costs and capital investments, as we refocus the company, and respond to lower oil prices. As we have previously indicated, this will include a reduction of some 10,000 staff and direct contractor positions.”

Shell is the oldest oil company in Nigeria and produced the country’s first oil exports in 1958. In 2014, Shell-operated ventures in Nigeria produced an average of 739,000 barrels of oil per day. Shell owns the 400MW Afam power plant, which supplied about 18 percent of Nigeria’s grid-connected electricity in 2014.


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