SNEPCO Bonga delivers 702m oil barrels for Nigeria in 12 years

 ITRealms:

The Managing Director of the oil field operator, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo), Bayo Ojulari, has said that Bonga oil field has produced about 702 million barrels of oil since inauguration in 2005, and operated at over 92 per cent availability in 2016, reports ITRealms.

He said that the volumes came from the Bonga main field and Bonga Phases 2 and 3 that unlocked the nearby Bonga North West field in August 2014, which has capacity for 65,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Addressing energy editors in Lagos on Tuesday on the new lease of life of Bonga after a major turnaround maintenance which was completed in April, Ojulari said one of the highpoints of the turnaround was the engagement of about 65 Nigerian contractor and subcontractor companies. Over 1000 people were involved, spread across worksites and vessels in the exercise described as the biggest in scope in the 12-year history of the asset.

He said, “The exercise stimulated growth of support industries vital to deep-water asset management. It provided a wider benefit to the Nigerian economy by boosting demand for a range of goods and services including offshore vessels and platforms, materials, floating hotel and helicopters.”

According to Ojulari, the turnaround witnessed an optimisation of resources and was safely completed within schedule. The exercise included statutory and regulatory checks and inspections; repairs and replacement of equipment; and upgrade of facilities.

A critical success factor, according to Ojulari, was the collaboration by more than 10 functions who benchmarked their contributions against a robust execution plan. Procuring materials from Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) saved cost and ensured seamless delivery, and the project team sourced key equipment and carried out fabrications within Nigeria. This innovation, he said, marked a turning point in SNEPCo’s efforts to develop the capabilities of Nigerian companies in the provision of goods and services in deep-water oil and gas production.

Ojulari expressed delight at the increasing number of women on the frontline, noting that more women were involved at every stage of the turnaround compared to any of the three previous exercises. “I’m very pleased that over 95 percent of these women are Nigerians and they add to our growing pool of Nigerian deep-water professionals produced through the asset,” he said.

He commended the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its co-venture partners for their timely support in the safe delivery of the turnaround.

SNEPCo is credited with producing the first generation of Nigerian deep-water oil and gas engineers, and in 2016, Bonga won ‘Asset of the Year’ Award in the Shell Group.

Bonga is Nigeria’s first deep-water development in depths of more than 1,000 metres, and is located 120km offshore Nigeria. The Bonga Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel receives crude and gas from production wells on the seabed and has the capacity to produce 225,000 barrels of oil and 210 million standard cubic feet of gas per day. SNEPCo operates Bonga in partnership with Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Deep Water) Limited, Total E&P Nigeria Limited and Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited under a Production Sharing Contract with the NNPC.

Uboshe Uboshe/GEE

ITREALMS ... everything news digitally!
Pix: L-R: Head, Turnaround Maintenance, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo), Tunde Olasubulumi; Engineering Manager, Chiedu Ejiofor; General Manager, Deep-water Production, Effy Okon; Managing Director, Bayo Ojulari; Communications Manager, Sola Abulu; Business Relations Manager, Alan Udi; and Transformation Manager, Toun Mustapha, at a press conference on the just completed turnaround maintenance of the Bonga deep-water asset held in Lagos.

Cybersecurity Treaty: Nigeria yet to request accession 12 years after

ITRealms:

Barely 12 years after the Budapest Convention on Cyber Security was put to force, Nigeria, the most populated black nation in the world may be foot-dragging over cyber security as it has not extended request for accession of this important Treaty, reports ITRealms.

Secretary of the Cybercrime Convention Committee (T-CY) Council of Europe Strasbourg, France, Alexander Seger, disclosed this to ITRealms, explaining that an accession request would lead to an invitation to accede.

He pointed out that once the instrument of accession is then deposited Nigeria would become a Party and thus be able to cooperate with other countries on the basis of this treaty.

Although, Mr. Seger expressed optimism Nigeria would soon do the needful to bluster the nation’s cyber security efforts to align with the global status.

“I understand that the Government (of Nigeria) is considering an accession request,” he said expectedly.

ITRealms gathered that the Convention was drawn up by the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France in 2001 with the active participation of the Council of Europe's observer states like Canada, Japan, South Africa and the United States.

Equally, ITRealms gathered that the convention or treaty entered enforcement phase three years after the draft was made on 1 July 2004, though as at time of filing this report, September 26, 2016,  49 states have ratified the convention, even as six states had signed the convention awaiting ratification.

The Convention, ITRealms gathered is the first international treaty on crimes committed via the Internet and other computer networks, dealing particularly with infringements of copyright, computer-related fraud, child pornography and violations of network security. In addition, it contains a series of powers and procedures such as the search of computer networks and interception.

Seger further listed some of the benefits of the Convention for Africa to include increased trust and efficient cooperation with other Parties, just as it would pave the way for participation in future standard setting, enhanced trust by private sector, technical assistance and capacity building to name a few.

Nigeria, ITRealms recalls only had a Cyberlaw passed in 2015 with lots of flaws already noticed including the reported fact that’s victims could be sanctioned to the tune of N2m for failure to report cyber-attack on his or her systems or networks.

Recent reports revealed that the Nigeria Cybercrime Act 2015 stated that “any person or institution, who operates a computer system or a network, whether public or private, must immediately inform the National Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) Coordination Center of any attacks, intrusions and other disruptions liable to hinder the functioning of another computer system or network, so that the National CERT can take the necessary measures to tackle the issues.”

Also, the sub-section 2 inter alia stated “In such cases mentioned in subsection (1) above, and in order to protect computer systems and networks, the National CERT Coordination Center may propose the isolation of affected computer systems or network pending the resolution of the issues.”

ITRealms further gathered that the sub-section 3 of Section 21 stated “persons or institutions who are unable to report such incidents in a space of 7 days commits an offence for denial of Internet services and should pay ₦2 million into the National Cyber Security Fund.”

Remmy Nweke with additional report by Nenye Dom/GEE

ITREALMS ... everything news digitally!