Energy Minister inspects offloading vessels in Singapore

A delegation led by the Minister of Energy, Hon. Dr. Joseph Oteng-Adjei, last week visited three of the yards involved in the construction of the Jubilee Field Offshore Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO).  

The delegation visited the Jurong shipyard and the Dynamac fabrication yard in Singapore, where the FPSO vessel and key process modules are being constructed. They toured the FPSO to examine the progress that has been made so far, and also visited the MMHE fabrication yard in Malaysia where the turret, a key component of the FPSO, is being constructed.  

The Minister was accompanied by Mr. Thomas Manu, Technical Director of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Michael Opan, Director of Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation for the Government of Ghana, and Paul McDade, Chief Operating Officer of Tullow.  

Hon. Oteng-Adjei in his comment noted that “I am really excited by what I have seen of the FPSO. I have been greatly reassured that this project is on schedule, both in terms of quality and costs and I am certain that we will see first oil production in Ghana, in the final quarter of next year. Furthermore, I am grateful to all our partners for their commitment to this project.  

“Nevertheless, we must remember that our ultimate goal is to ensure that this great resource of ours is developed for the benefit of the people of Ghana. Our agenda is clear: to work closely with our partners and to create the wealth that will help develop our country.”  

Mr. Paul McDade, Chief Operating Officer of Tullow Oil plc expressed appreciation to the level of development of the FPSO, adding “it is a tribute to our lead FPSO contractor Modec. This is an exciting time to be working with the Government of Ghana and our other partners on the world class Jubilee project. While there is much work still to be done both here and in Ghana, we remain on target and on schedule for first oil production in Ghana, in the fourth quarter of 2010.”