The country oil industry achieved a significant milestone following the official naming of the second floating storage and offloading machine vessel (FPSO) that will produce gas from the Tweneboa –Enyerna –Ntomme (TEN) fields which lie around 60 kilometres of the coast of the Western Region , by the First Lady, Mrs. Lordina Mahama at the Jurong Shipyard in Singapore.
Named after the late President, Professor John Atta –Mills, the almost US$1billion FPSO is turret-moored and the largest turret of any existing FPSO vessel.
Theturret is the round section at the bow (front) of the vessel and is anchored to the seabed and does not move.
Industry players arguably describe it as the most important part of the FPSO since the rest of the vessel is able to swivel or weathervane around it according to tidal conditions.
What is striking about the extremely complex TEN mega Project is the level of Ghanaian participation in the construction of the project.
Seaweld Engineering and Osram Limited fabricated 362 deck stools for it in Tema and Takoradi.
These tools which provide vital support for the FPSO were shipped to the construction site and installed on the deck of the vessel.
In addition the FPSO’s anchor piles were fabricated at a new yard in Sekondi.
These nine large steal cylinders have been installed in the seabed in the TEN fields to await the arrival of the vessel which sails off the coast of Singapore around the end of the year and expected in Ghanaian waters by February 2016.
The vessel which has the capacity to produce 80,000 barrels of oil per day and has a storage capacity of 1.7 million barrels of oil.
Mrs. Mahama was happy about the level of local participation in the project and was optimistic that it would go a long way to develop the local capacity of players in the growing oil and gas industry.
She paid glowing tribute to the TEN Partners for embracing and bringing into fruition the government’s local content policy.
Mrs. Mahama said that is the only way that the country can benefit from the growing industry and was hopeful that all those who have benefited from this policy would impart their knowledge to others who are desirous of making a living in the industry.
The first lady said it was fitting that the country was naming the second FPSO after the late President who oversaw the birth of the country’s offshore oil industry and paid tribute to his achievement and leadership.
She said ‘we will also be paying glowing tribute to the hard work, skill and dedication of the artisans that have converted the vessel from a large crude carrier into an FPSO. Their achievement is much appreciated by the people of Ghana.’
Mr. Aidan Havey ,CEO of Tullow Oil said the company was happy to be working with government to develop the country’s fledging oil industry to help in the transformation of the country’s economy.
He said the company had a lot of confidence in the economy that despite the turbulent developments in the oil market which has seen oil prices drop drastically it was able to live up to corporate mission of creating prosperity wherever it operates.
He said, ‘a look across the industry makes it unusual –projects of this scale and complexity often encounters delays by this stage. I believe that it is by our strong working relationship with our partners and contractors that has enabled this level of performance and thanked them for their contribution.’
Mr. Havey reiterated Tullow’s commitment to partner the government in its determination to grow the local capacity of the industry that for him is the way to go if the industry would grow.
Mr. Samuel Atta-Mills, brother of the late President on behalf of the family thanked all those who in diverse ways contributed to the successful completion of the project.He was optimistic that the successful completion of the project will be a game changer in addressing the numerous problems the confront as a nation.
FACT BOX
The TEN Project Partners
The TEN Project is a joint venture led by Tullow Oil
Tullow Oil: 47.185%
Kosmos Energy: 17%
Anadarko Petroleum Corporation 17%
Ghana National Petroleum Corporation 15%
Petro SA: 3.815%