Tullow considers options to fix damaged bearings on FPSO Kwame Nkrumah

Tullow Ghana says it is still considering a permanent solution to the damaged turret bearing on the floating vessel used in producing and storing oil at the field.

Currently, the oil producer said, it was uncertain on whether to fix the damaged bearing of the Floating Production Storage Offloading (FPSO) on site or move it to a shipyard for repair works to begin.

The Managing Director of Tullow Ghana, Mr Charles Darku, told investors at a forum in Accra that the company was exploring its options and would come out with a position by mid-year. 

'In terms of the challenge, we believe that we will find a solution to it from a long-term perspective, and coming to a decision on which of the options to adopt and bring it to the government,' he said. 

Mr Darku explained that the turret bearing issue announced in the first quarter of 2016 was under investigation by an experienced project team and solutions would be engineered appropriately. 

With short-term remedial measures in place to resume projection, the company will now produce at a slower rate than its estimated output. 

Production resumes
The FPSO Kwame Nkrumah was shut down on March 20, 2016 for a two-week planned routine maintenance but production was stalled as a result of damage to the turret bearing of the vessel. 

Mr Darku said although the Jubilee Field had a strong performance in 2015 with an average gross production of 103,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd), production for the first quarter of 2016 was below expectation. 

This, he explained, was the result of an increased downturn following a problem identified with the FPSO turret bearing.  

Currently, new offtake procedures are being implemented and production has started at a slowdown average of 33,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd).  

TEN project on course
Mr Darku said the Tweneboa-Enyenra-Ntomme (TEN) project was over 90 per cent complete and was on course to deliver its first oil by August 2016. 

The FPSO Prof. John Atta Mills sailed from Singapore on January 23 and arrived in Ghana on March 2, 2016. 

The mooring operations are complete and the vessel is now being connected to the subsea infrastructure via the risers and umbilicals and the commissioning of these systems is underway. 

'Tullow estimated that TEN average annualised production in 2016 will be around 23,000 bodp gross. This is as a result of the mid-year start-up and ramp-up in the second half,' he said. 

The TEN project is Ghana's next big offshore project and is located in the Deepwater Tano licence which covers more than 800 sqkm, and lies around 20km west of Tullow's Jubilee field. 

It will have a plateau production rate of 80,000 barrels of oil per day. 

Future development of gas resources at TEN is anticipated following the commencement of oil start-up.

Partners in the TEN project are Tullow, Kosmos Energy, Anadarko Petroleum, Petro SA and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).