Multi-purpose production vessel expected in Ghana in June

Accra, March 12, GNA - A world class oil processing and storage vessel required for the giant Jubilee field will arrive in Ghana in June ahead of commencement of production in the last quarter of the year. The manufacturers and project partners made this known in Singapore. The Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, currently undergoing final stages of fittings at the Jurong shipyard in Singapore, will be commissioned in the first week of May after which it will set sail for Ghana, MODEC, the contractors said.

"The vessel is more than 95 per cent complete and we are on target of delivering it in June," Mr Sateesh Dev, President of MODEC's offshore production system told a group of Ghanaian journalists on a facility visit to the shipyard in Singapore. The visit by the journalists was facilitated by the Ghana National Petroleum Company (GNPC) in collaboration with other partners working in the Jubilee field. The journalists were selected across board from private and independent media houses.

In remarks, Mr Thomas Manu, GNPC Director of Operations, said the oil sector was new to Ghana and it was necessary to involve the media to learn basic facts about the Jubilee project. "There has been a lot of information put out in local and international media generally about Ghana's oil discovery and production processes and it is important that we work closely with our own media to have a clear understanding of what is involved," Mr Manu said. Others who addressed the journalists included Mr Dai Jones, President of Tullow Ghana, Mr Dennis McLaughlin, Director of the Jubilee Integrated Project Team, representing Kosmos Energy, as well as Ghanaian engineers working on various aspects of the project abroad. Deputy Information Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa who was among the officials asked the contractors and the oil companies to adhere by the local content policy in order to give Ghanaians the opportunity to benefit from the oil discovery.

They were all upbeat about the world class quality of the Jubilee project and expressed satisfaction about the progress of work on the FPSO. The Jubilee oil field, operated by Tullow Oil as the lead exploration company, consists of 17 wells located 65km offshore south-east of Takoradi with gross reserves estimated at 1.8 billion barrels. Other stakeholders are Houston-Based Kosmos Energy, GNPC and Anadarko. The field, which is about 1.5 km under the sea bed, is being developed on fast-track basis towards first oil pump in November this year, 40 months after discovery. The FPSO, generally referred to as a sea "monster" due to its sheer size and sophistication, is capable of processing 120,000 barrels of oil per day with a storage capacity of 1.6 million barrels. It has the capability of producing 160 mmscfd gas with injection up to 5,500 psi under a minimal flaring commitment. This means gas would also be produced alongside oil during production start-up late this year. All the partners have agreed that although the Jubilee Field has a zero gas flaring policy, there will be an initial flare during start-up to allow the compressor system run. As per the initial agreement between the field operators, MODEC staff will man the FPSO initially until such a time that the Jubilee project decides to own it.

A visit to the vessel revealed a massive structure, fitted with an expandable Turret-mooring feature to allow weathervaning around stationery risers linked to the sub-sea production system. It is capable of generating three sets of dual-fuel power up to 28 megawatts with plans to run it mainly on the gas produced. The facility is also fitted with a water treatment module which filter and de-oxygenate sea water through a reverse osmosis into fresh potable water for bathing and cooking by people on board the FPSO. Its living quarter can accommodate up to 120 persons. Engineers working on the facility said it has an initial lifespan of 25 years, proportional to the estimated life of the Jubilee reserves. "This means that its voyage to Ghana will also be its last movement, according to MODEC engineers working on the vessel. They said after successfully positioning in Ghana, the captain's component of the vessel will be dismantled.