Shutdowns of FPSOs taking a toll on government revenue – Minister reveals

A deputy Minister of Energy Mohammed Amin Adams has told the Jubilee Partners government will not entertain too many shutdowns of the Floating Processing Storage and Offloading FPSO vessels.

He said the continuous shutdowns has a serious effect on government’s revenue, hence directed the partners to devise ways of solving the problem permanently.

“The shutdowns have so much effects on us. Even when gas from Sankofa comes on stream the shutdowns will still have effect in terms of revenue that we get to undertake development activities. Therefore it is in our interest to work together and ensure these problems are permanently resolved,” he told them.

He was however hopeful that Tullow will work harder until a permanent solution is found to the problem by next year.

The deputy minister was speaking to the media in Takoradi after a working visit to the Jubilee Fields with stakeholders in the industry including VRA, GRIDCo, GNPC, Ghana Gas and Petroleum Commission ahead of the second shutdown of the Kwame Nkrumah FPSO in May.Amin Adam and the team had early visited the Kwame Nkrumah FPSO to assess the level of work done so far following the first shutdown.

He assured the shutdown of the Kwame Nkrumah Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) in May this year will not affect power generation that much.

“The previous shutdown had some effect because even though gas was available from TEN, Ghana Gas was going through maintenance and that compelled the Volta River Authority to use other means which included buying more crude oil to be able to address the power short fall at that time.

“This time around, we will not have that problem because Ghana Gas is operating and therefore TEN, is going to give us 60million standard cubic feet daily,” Mr. Adams assured.

He said the ministry is working hard to ensure that there is a seamless shift from the shutdown period to the point where gas will be stored for Jubilee.