The Nigerian subsidiaries of two energy giants, the UK-headquartered Shell and France’s TotalEnergies, have inked an agreement for the latter to divest its stake in a production sharing contract (PSC) offshore Nigeria.
Under the deal, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) is set to acquire TotalEnergies EP Nigeria’s (TEPNG) entire 12.5% stake in the OML 118 PSC, an oil mining lease holding the Bonga field.
The previous ownership structure included SNEPCo (55%) operating the field in partnership with Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (20%), Nigerian Agip Exploration (12.5%), and TotalEnergies EP Nigeria (12.5%), on behalf of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC).
Subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions, the transaction, valued at $510 million, is expected to be completed by the year’s end. Once this happens, SNEPCo’s stake will grow to 67.5%.
“TotalEnergies continues to actively high-grade its Upstream portfolio, to focus on assets with low technical costs and low emissions, and to lower its cash breakeven,” said Nicolas Terraz , President of Exploration & Production at TotalEnergies. “In Nigeria, the Company is focusing on its operated gas and offshore oil assets and is currently progressing the development of Ubeta project, designed to sustain gas supply to Nigeria LNG.”
The UK major said that the targeted investment contributes towards growing its combined integrated gas and upstream total production by 1% per year to 2030, as well as sustaining its 1.4 million barrels per day of liquids production.
Peter Costello , Shell’s President of Upstream, noted that the acquisition brings another significant investment in Nigeria’s deepwater that contributes to sustained liquids production.
The Bonga field is a deep-water development located at water depths exceeding 1,000 meters. It started producing in 2005, with a capacity of 225,000 barrels of oil per day. The one-billionth barrel of crude oil milestone was celebrated in 2023.
Last December, Shell announced a final investment decision (FID) on Bonga North , a subsea tie-back to the FPSO Bonga working at the field.
At the time, the UK major disclosed that the Bonga North project covers the drilling, completion, and start-up of 16 wells, half of which are production wells and the remaining half water injection wells. Modifications will also be made to the existing FPSO and new subsea hardware tied back to the platform will be installed.
The platform has had a digital twin since 2020 , with the scope of work on the project set to expand thanks to a deal reached with the digital twin tech provider last August .
Bonga North’s estimated recoverable resources stand at over 300 million barrels of oil equivalent, delivering an expected 110,000 barrels of oil a day at peak production. First oil is targeted by the decade’s end.
Together with other European and U.S. oil majors–BP, Equinor, Eni, ExxonMobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips–Shell and TotalEnergies reported a combined profit of around $28.73 billion in Q1 2025.
This goes to show that, despite ramped-up efforts for the world to transition to clean energy, fossil fuels continue to play their part in the global energy mix.