FPSO arrives @ Jubilee field

Daily Graphic (front) Tues. June 22/10

Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE FPSO Kwame Nkrumah, which will pave the way for the commercial production of oil in the country, entered Ghanaian waters yesterday morning.
The floating vessel, which set off from Singapore and docked at the Jubilee Field in the Western Region, will effect the production, storage and offloading of Ghana’s oil from all 17 wells on the Jubilee Field by the end of the last quarter of the year.
The vessel, with 17 modules weighing more than 12,500 tonnes installed on it, has a storage capacity of 1.6 million barrels and can process 120,000 barrels of oil a day.
The modules include a water treatment plant, crude separation plant, chemical injection plant, gas processing and injection plant, electricity generation plant and a 120-room accommodation.
At a ceremony in Accra yesterday for MODEC International, an FPSO builder, to hand over the vessel to the government, the Minister of Energy, Dr Joe Oteng-Adjei, said the country was on course in ensuring that it began its oil production by the end of the year.
He, however, challenged all partners involved in ensuring that the vessel commenced operations at the scheduled date to work fervently towards achieving such a target.
He also appealed to the fisher folk in the area to ensure that they worked within the limit set for them so as not to cause any inconveniences to the operators of the vessel.
He called on Ghanaians to be vigilant in ensuring that they protected the oil find for the sake of posterity.
The Managing Director of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Nana Boakye Asafo-Adjaye, said the successful production of oil on the Jubilee Field would benefit the country to a large extent and, therefore, called on all Ghanaians to give their maximum support.
He said the vessel, which would separate oil, gas and water for processing, had come at an opportune time for the country.
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MODEC International, Mr Shashank Karve, said the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah was a unique vessel, as it was built specifically to suit the country’s needs.
The President and General Manager of Tullow Oil, Mr Dai Jones, who spoke on behalf of other exploring partners, said the vessel was a world-class equipment which would be used in achieving a standard result.