Shell Nigeria has reopened the Bonga deep water oilfield after a turnaround maintenance, All Africa reported.

According to This Day Live, The field was shut down in early March 2017, for the maintenance, which included inspections, re-certification, testing and repair of equipment as well as engineering upgrades with Nigerian companies and subsea professional playing key roles.

The reopening of the oilfield is going to boost Nigeria’s crude since the shutdown has been reducing Nigeria’s production and exports as Shell Nigeria produces around 200,000b/d from the 225,000b/d capacity Bonga field, which it operates under Production Sharing Contract (PSC) for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Managing Director of Shell Nigeria, Bayo Ojulari, stated “The exercise will help ensure sustained production and reduced unscheduled production deferments. For the Bonga team, this is another opportunity to excel, having won the ‘Asset of the Year’ Award 2016 in the Shell Group, followed by runners-up in Norway and Malaysia. We are pleased that the award recognized the continuing collaboration towards optimum production with a focus on safety, cost and Nigerian content development which will be invaluable in the maintenance work.”