Yemisi Izuora
Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo), has completed the 2022 Turnaround Maintenance (TAM) of the Bonga floating production storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) .
The 225,000 capacity FPSO was shut down on October 18, 2022 to carry out statutory inspections, recertifications and other critical asset integrity restoration activities.
The 2022 TAM which was originally planned for 30 days was completed in 22 days on November 9, 2022 thanks to excellent front-end planning and flawless execution.
Commissioning and start-up activities are in progress and will culminate in ramp up of oil and gas production in the coming days.
It would be recalled that SNEPCo, announced that its 200,000 barrels per day FPSO, vessel has been scheduled for Turnaround Maintenance (TAM) in October.
Although the company did not specify how long the scheduled maintenance would last, it was learnt that a similar maintenance in May 2020 shut down the oil production facility for at least two weeks.
The oil firm that announced the development in a statement by Mrs Abimbola Essien-Nelson, its Media Relations Manager, said the maintenance will include statutory recertification and critical asset integrity activities.
Mrs Essien-Nelson said the scheduled turnaround maintenance of the offshore Bonga asset would be carried out with safety as top priority.
She quoted SNEPCo’s Managing Director (MD), Elohor Aiboni, as giving the assurance recently at a session with the chief executive officers of contractor companies participating in the Bonga TAM.
The MD said: “The Bonga TAM is important to revitalise this important critical national asset. But more important is carrying out the turnaround safely.