In 13 years of deep-water exploration, the Bonga vessel of the Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) has produced over 800 million barrels of crude oil, confirming the company as a pacesetter in offshore oil and gas production in the Gulf of Guinea.
In its review of the performance of the Bonga Floating Production, Storage, and Offloading (FPSO) vessel for 2018, SNEPCo’s Managing Director, Bayo Ojulari, expressed satisfaction with the consistent availability and optimal performance of the vessel which began operation at the Bonga field in OML 118 in 2005 under a production sharing contract with the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
“We are relentless in our pursuit of excellence on all fronts, and this we have consistently demonstrated with the management of Bonga to the satisfaction of our government and co-venture partners,” Ojulari said in Lagos on Monday.
“We leverage the Shell group’s global expertise in technology and new advancements in the industry to continue to unlock Bonga’s huge potential, one such example was the completion and inauguration of the Bonga North West Cross Over module in 2014, a first in the history of Shell which launched the beginning of a new phase delivering the reservoirs proven volumes and maintaining production of the FPSO at full capacity,” the SNEPCo MD added.
Ojulari said, “Our health and education programmes are aimed at improving healthcare; bridging the educational opportunity gap between urban and rural school populations; providing educational grants; improving ICT education; and supporting displaced persons.”
The Bonga Asset Operations Manager, Elohor Aiboni, described the FPSO as a jewel noting however that SNEPCo’s achievements did not come without their challenges. “We overcome our challenges with the ingenuity and integrated delivery approach of our staff who work together every day to deliver one of the best assets in the world. “I’m proud to say that over 95 percent of SNEPCo’s staff are Nigerians and they have distinguished themselves as some of the best in the industry within and outside Nigeria.”
SNEPCo’s resounding performance, Aiboni said, had been delivered with zero fatality since first oil. “In 2016 the team also won the Shell CEO HSE Award for disciplined and focused safety culture.”
In recognition of its pioneering initiatives in Nigeria, SNEPCo was in early 2018 honoured as the best Nigerian oil and gas company in technology and innovation at the maiden edition of the Nigerian International Petroleum Summit (NIPS) held in Abuja for pioneering in-country Subsea Tree Refurbishment, a remarkable feat in local capacity potential which resulted in significant savings. This was the first time in the Nigerian oil and gas industry that a Subsea Tree was fully stripped down and refurbished locally with all its original functionality restored.
The Bonga field increased Nigeria’s oil production by 10% when output began in 2005 and has since stimulated the growth of support industries in addition to helping to create the first generation of Nigerian oil and gas engineers with deep-water experience. The FPSO has potential to produce 225,000 barrels of crude oil and 210 million standard cubic feet of gas per day.
The FPSO vessel’s capacity was upgraded in recent years, allowing SNEPCo to expand the field with further drilling of wells in Bonga Phases 2 and 3 and through a subsea tie-back that unlocked the nearby Bonga North West field in August 2014.
Bonga North West is capable of producing approximately 65,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day and was named Engineering Project of the Year 2015 a
Media Relations Manager, Bamidele Olusegunn
Access, Diamond Bank’s MDs confirm merger, not acquisition
The managements of Access Bank and Diamond Bank have confirmed that the latter is dissolving into the first.
Diamond’s Chief Executive Officer, Uzoma Dozie, confirmed that at the end of the process in the first quarter of next year, the bank would cease to exist.
He, however, stressed that it was merging with Access Bank because it was the preferred bidder.
Dozie said the potential merger of the two banks would create Nigeria and Africa’s largest retail bank by customers adding that the transaction to be completed in the first half of 2019 was in the best interest of all stakeholders.
He said, “The proposed merger would involve Access Bank acquiring the entire issued share capital of Diamond Bank, in exchange for a combination of cash and shares in Access Bank via a Scheme of Merger.
“Based on the agreement reached by the boards of the two financial institutions, Diamond Bank shareholders will receive a consideration of N3.13 per share, comprising N1 per share in cash,” he said.
“The offer represents a premium of 260 per cent to the closing market price of 87k per share of Diamond Bank on the Nigerian Stock Exchange as of December 13, 2018, the date of the final binding offer,” Dozie said.
He added that the bank’s shares would be absorbed into Access Bank at the completion of the merger and Diamond Bank would cease to exist under Nigerian law.
“The current listing of Diamond Bank’s shares on the NSE and the listing of Diamond Bank’s global depositary receipts on the London Stock Exchange will be cancelled upon the merger becoming effective,” he explained
On his part, Access Bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Herbert Wigwe, expressed confidence that the bank could handle the transformation.
He said, “Access Bank has a strong track record of acquisition and integration and has a clear growth strategy.
“Access Bank and Diamond Bank have complementary operations and similar values, and a merger with Diamond Bank with its leadership in digital and mobile-led retail banking.
“This could accelerate our strategy as a significant corporate and retail bank in Nigeria and a Pan-African financial services champion.”
,” said Wigwe.
Access Bank MD, D
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