First oil from TEN project in August

The TEN project is on track to achieve its first oil by August next year with gross daily operations of 80,000 barrels.

Country Manager of Tullow, Charles Darko disclosed this to newsmen on the sidelines of the naming ceremony of the second floating, storage and offloading machine vessel (FPSO) that will produce oil and gas from the Tweneboa-Enyerna-Ntomme (TEN) field that lie around 60 kilometres off the Western Region's coast.

The naming ceremony was performed by the First Lady, Lordina Mahama in Singapore last week.

The naming of the vessel - expected to leave Singapore by the end of the year and arrive in Ghanaian waters in February next year, and almost the size of three football parks - marks a major milestone in the country's oil and gas industry.

The project derives its name from the three fields - Tweneboa, Enyera and Ntomme - and has a current scope to develop 300 million barrels of 1 oil equivalent (mmboe) over the lifetime of the field, which is approximately 20 years. Around 80% of this is oil and 20% gas. It is led by Tullow Oil, with partners Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Kosmos Energy LLC, Anadarko Petroleum and PetroSA.

The reservoirs are spread over 800 kilometres and lie in water depths of between 1,000 and 1,800 metres.

The TEN appraisal programme started in January and continued in 2012 with the drilling of three wells. The Owo-IRA well was drilled and successfully tested in January at combined rates in excess of 20,000 bopd.

Enyenra-4A was drilled in March 2012, intersecting 32 metres of oil pay. Water injection tests on this down-dip well were carried out in April 2012, with results proving that the Enyenra channel sands are suitable for water injection to support oil production.

The Ntomme-2A well was drilled in January 2012 and "found oil (the Ntomme discovery well) down-dip of the Tweneboa-3ST non-associated gas discovery".

The well was production- tested in May 2012 at combined flow rates in excess of 20,000 bopd, confirming excellent quality reservoir.

Development of the TEN Project requires the drilling and completion of up to 24 development wells, of which 10 are ready for the first oil to be connected through sub-sea infrastructure to the Prof. John Atta Mills FPSO vessel moored in 1,500 metres of water.

Mr. Darko described efforts by the Partners to ensure timely execution of the project as evidence of their determination to see rapid development of the country's economy.

For him, gas from the TEN Project will go a long way to open up the economy, which will make it more competitive in the sub-region.

CEO of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Alex Mould, reaffirmed the corporation's commitment to ensuring that the industry continues to work for overall national development.

He spoke about progress being made in local content policy, legislation and good practice, which has led to the development of the TEN Project.

He said the foundations were being laid for the country to develop a viable industry, wherein world-class ship­builders will partner locals in developing a world-class marine construction industry.

The sector, he said, holds great promise which when properly harnessed can positively impact on the lives of the people, but there was the need for increased participation by the state; therefore, the GNPC had among other things instituted a number of initiatives to enhance skills development of the youth in oil and gas to enhance employment.

Mr. Mould said making the petroleum sector an integral part of the wider economy has enabled resources from the sector to provide opportunity to bridge the national infrastructure gap, the institutional and national skills gap in the oil and gas industry and allied sectors, to ensure greater employment of Ghanaians.

He said oil and gas cannot transform the country's fortune by themselves, and any transformation can't happen overnight: it will take well- planned and coordinated efforts to fully realise and retain the benefits of oil and gas operations for the people of Ghana.

Tullow has interests in two licences offshore Ghana: Deepwater Tano and West Cape Three Points, with the Jubilee Field straddling both licence areas.