What does Shell have left in Nigeria after SPDC sale to Renaissance?

On Thursday, global oil giant Shell announced the completion of the sale of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) to Renaissance, marking its exit from the country’s onshore and shallow-water space plagued by security challenges.

Renaissance Africa Energy Company is a consortium comprising four local operators — ND Western, Aradel Energy, First E&P and Waltersmith — and an international oil firm, Petrolin.

Renaissance now controls SPDC’s 30% stake in the SPDC JV, an unincorporated joint venture with the government-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company (55%), Total Exploration and Production Nigeria Ltd (10%) and Agip Energy and Natural Resources (Nigeria) Limited (5%). The SPDC JV holds 15 oil mining leases for petroleum operations onshore and 3 for petroleum operations in shallow water in Nigeria.

“The divestment of SPDC aligns with Shell’s intent to simplify its presence in Nigeria through an exit of onshore oil production in the Niger Delta and a focus of future disciplined investment in its Deepwater and Integrated Gas positions,” Shell said.

READ MORE: Renaissance takes over Shell’s Nigerian onshore business SPDC 

Here is a look at the assets Shell has left in Nigeria.

SNEPCo

Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo), a wholly-owned subsidiary, pioneered deep-water oil and gas production from the Bonga field in the Gulf of Guinea where depths reach more than 1,000 metres.

The company started oil production from the first well at the Bonga North West deep-water development on August 5, 2014, with a capacity to produce 225,000 barrels of oil per day. The Bonga project helped create the first generation of Nigerian oil and gas engineers with deep water experience and stimulated the growth of support industries. 

The Bonga field achieved 1 billion barrels export milestone in 2023. Further developments include the final investment decision on the $5-billion Bonga North deep-water project announced in December last year.

Bonga North will be a subsea tie-back to the Shell-operated Bonga Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) facility which Shell operates with a 55% interest, according to a statement on Monday.

The Bonga North project involves drilling, completing, and starting up 16 wells (8 production and 8 water injection wells), modifications to the existing Bonga Main FPSO and the installation of new subsea hardware tied back to the FPSO.

The project will sustain oil and gas production at the Bonga facility. Bonga North currently has an estimated recoverable resource volume of more than 300 million barrels of oil equivalent and will reach a peak production of 110,000 barrels of oil a day, with first oil anticipated by the end of the decade.

SNEPCo (55%) operates the Bonga field in partnership with Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Ltd. (20%), Nigerian Agip Exploration Ltd. (12.5%), and TotalEnergies Exploration and Production Nigeria Ltd. (12.5%), on behalf of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

READ MORE: Shell says deepwater a compelling consideration for Nigeria

SNG

Shell Nigeria Gas Ltd (SNG) is a fully owned Shell company incorporated in 1998 for the downstream distribution of gas to industries in Nigeria. Its mission is to provide manufacturing and industrial customers with a clean, reliable, low-cost alternative to liquid fuel, and to assist in building a stronger Nigerian economy.

SNG currently operates a growing gas transmission and distribution network of over 138km in Nigeria. It operates several distribution systems including Agbara-Ota in Ogun state, the Aba Cluster in Abia State, and the Port Harcourt Cluster in Rivers State.

The company is in a growth phase and recently increased its gas distribution capacity by over 150% ensuring its gas distribution networks are capable of distributing over 150 mmscf/d of dry processed gas to over 300 industrial customers. Currently, over 100 industrial customers are already connected to these gas grids.

READ MORE: Saipem wins $900m contract for Shell’s Bonga North project in Nigeria