Sopuruchi Onwuka

Local subsidiary of Shell Plc, the Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo), and its partner, Sunlink Energies and Resources Limited, have committed to drive a new offshore field development project that would help contribute feedstock to the expanding Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited.

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Shell declared on Tuesday that SNEPCO and Sunlink have taken a final investment decision (FID) on the HI gas project offshore Nigeria with a vision to bolster NLNG’s contribution to Nigeria’s national economic development goals, including jobs in construction and operations.

Sunlink Energies and Resources Limited holds 60% stake in the HI project which is part of a joint venture in which SNEPCo retains the remaining 40% stake.

The HI field which was discovered in 1985 lies in 100 meters of water depth around 50 kilometers from the shore. The field holds estimated recoverable resource volumes of approximately 285 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe).

Shell which operates the NLNG with 25.6% commercial interest on behalf of Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, TotalEnergies and Eni stated that the seventh liquefaction plant which is still under construction is expected to begin production before 2030.

Oracle Intelligence reports that all shareholders of the NLNG Limited are also the company’s committed feedstock suppliers. And after divesting its main onshore assets which helped it meet feedstock obligations to the NLNG, Shell has been developing other sources of gas supply to the liquefaction company which is currently set on continuous capacity expansion.

The NLNG which currently sucks up significant 3.5 billion standard cubic feet of natural gas per day (Bcfd) to produce  22 million tons per annum (mtpa) from active six trains will require some 37 percent or 1.3 Bcfd increase in feedgas supply when the when Train 7 comes online.

Shell stated that HI field development project would supply 350 million standard cubic feet, or some 60 thousand barrels of oil equivalent of gas per day (60koed), peak production to Nigeria LNG which plays in the global markets.

With estimated capital budget of $2.0 billion, the project consists of a wellhead platform with four wells to be installed at the HI field location, a pipeline to transport the multiphase gas to onshore at Bonny, and a gas processing plant at Bonny.

Output from the Bonny processing plant, Shell stated, would see processed gas transported to NLNG and the condensate to the Bonny Oil and Gas Export Terminal.

“The estimated peak production and current estimated recoverable resources presented above are 100% total gross figures. Current estimated recoverable resource volumes are a P50 estimate under the Society of Petroleum Engineers’ Petroleum Resources Classification System. P50 means there is a 50% probability of the estimate being lower and a 50% probability of being higher,” Shell declared.

Shell’s Upstream President, Peter Costello, stated: “Following recent investment decisions related to the Bonga deep-water development, today’s announcement demonstrates our continued commitment to Nigeria’s energy sector, with a focus on Deepwater and Integrated Gas.”

“This Upstream project will help Shell grow our leading Integrated Gas portfolio, while supporting Nigeria’s plans to become a more significant player in the global LNG market,” he added.

According to the statement, the increase in feedstock to NLNG, via the Train 7 project that aims to expand the Bonny Island terminal’s production capacity, is in line with Shell’s plans to grow its global LNG volumes by an average of 4-5% per year until 2030.

“This project contributes to Shell’s Capital Market Day 2025 commitment to deliver upstream and integrated gas projects coming on stream between 2025 to 2030 with a total peak production of more than 1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d). This also supports Shell’s intent to grow top line production across our combined Upstream and Integrated Gas business by 1% per year to 2030.

“LNG plays a key role in the energy transition, producing less greenhouse gas emissions than coal when used to generate electricity, and less emission than petrol or diesel when used for transport fuel,” the company stated.

The HI field development follows Shell’s final investment decision on the Bonga North project in December 2024 and recent increase of its stake in the Bonga field. Shell stated that the investments are consistent with its intention to be a continued disciplined investor in Nigeria’s energy sector through its Deep Water and Integrated Gas businesses.