Semi-submersible crane vessel (SSCV) from the fleet of Bluewhale Offshore, a Singapore-headquartered offshore drilling contractor and service provider and member of CIMC Group, has been picked to work on a project offshore Nigeria being developed by the Nigerian subsidiary of the U.K.-based energy giant Shell. The SSCV Blue Gretha secured an accommodation and heavy lift contract with the EPC provider for Nigeria’s Bonga North project. The $5 billion project, which is being developed by Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo), was greenlighted in December.
The service contract includes a firm period of 15 months plus optional periods. According to the Singaporean player, the contract was secured through joint efforts with OOS International.
SNEPCo operates the Bonga field in partnership with Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (20%) and Nigerian Agip Exploration (12.5%). TotalEnergies previously held a 12.5% stake in the field, which was purchased by SNEPCo in May.
In addition to Bonga, Shell is working on another project offshore Nigeria – the HI field. The U.K. giant and its partner Sunlink Energies and Resources announced a final investment decision (FID) for the project.
Note by Alessandro Bazzoni