Ghana’s third Floating Offloading Production Storage (FPSO) will set sail to Ghana next week after it was officially named by the First Lady, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo, at a colourful ceremony in Singapore.
It was built by Keppel Shipyard (KSL) of Singapore and named after former President John Agyekum Kufuor, under whose tenure oil was found in commercial quantities in 2007. On its arrival, the vessel will be moored on top of wells at Sankofa-Gye Nyame field in the Tano Basin of the Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP).
This will pave way for the final development of the third independent offshore oil field in Ghana.
FPSOs
The country currently has two FPSOs anchored offshore and named after two former Presidents— Dr Kwame Nkrumah and Prof. John Evans Atta-Mills, after commercial production started in December 2010.
Former President Kufuor said, “l find the naming of this FPSO, the largest and first vessel in Ghana to convert crude oil and gas into finished products on the same platform, welcoming.”
Displeasure
President Kufuor, however, expressed his displeasure about why after joining the comity of oil-producing nations, Ghana was yet to become the ‘land of milk and honey’ that many prayed for after the country struck oil in commercial quantity.
After the discovery and development of two independent oil fields and a third field which is almost complete, the former President said the country still grappled with economic and social difficulties in spite of the nation’s efforts to make the oil discovery a ‘blessing and not a curse.’
He, however, urged Ghanaians not to lose hope since there were brighter days ahead for the nation.
Oil, gas project
In 2015, Ghana took another major step towards the attainment of energy and power security with the signing of an agreement for the development of the OCTP integrated oil and gas project.
The $7 billion project, being undertaken by Italy’s largest oil company, Eni Spa, in collaboration with Vitol Energy, will see the development of the Sankofa and Gye Nyame fields that will provide substantial gas to operate Ghana’s thermal power plants for 20 years.
Oil production from the OCTP is estimated at 80,000 barrels per day and will start this year, while the gas comes on board in 2018.
In that regard, the former President said the development of the OCTP fields as the first major development of gas in the country had huge benefits for the transformation of the economy.
“As industry watchers tell us, the fields contain enough gas to continuously supply Ghana’s thermal power sector hopefully beyond the 2030s.”
The former President said the project, together with others in the energy sector, would facilitate the turning of the country into an industrial hub in West Africa.
Acknowledgement
Mrs Akufo-Addo eulogised President Kufuor for his efforts in the actualisation of a long held dream of finding oil in commercial quantity in the country.
She recalled that it was under the leadership of the former President that the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) was restructured to make it more viable. “Ghana woke up one fine morning in June 2007 and heard of the discovery of oil and gas in commercial quantity,” the First Lady stated.
Revenue
The Chief Executive Officer of GNPC, which is the national oil company holding the interests of Ghana in the offshore joint ventures, Dr Kofi Kodua Sarpong, said the country’s oil production raised critical revenue for the government.
He said more importantly, to keep the wheel of industry in motion, the oil production supported the power sector by providing gas for local consumption and industrial development.
“This, I will say, arguably has a greater impact on the local economy as gas produced from the Sankofa Gye Nyame fields will supplement and replace liquid fuel that is presently burnt to generate power,” Dr Sarpong added.
Actualising oil production and the upcoming Eni project, he said, would ensure low cost of generation at the thermal power enclaves that would boost efficiency and cut emissions to the barest minimum.
Excitement
The Executive Vice-President of Eni in charge of the sub-Saharan Africa Region Department, Mr Umbeto Carrara, said the company was excited about the project described by the World Bank as “top priority”.
He said the long-term production of the associated gas, the World Bank says, would underpin the growth of the domestic thermal power sector to accelerate Ghana’s energy and industrial development.
FPSO John Agyekum Kufuor
The FPSO John Agyekum Kufuor will be spread moored with subsea tie-back in a daisy chain for the Phase-Two development of gas associated with the oil on the integrated oil and gas OCTP field expecting to pump first oil in August 2017 and first gas in the first quarter of 2018.
The field has eight oil producers, three water injectors, three gas injectors, five gas producers and upon completion of the entire system, will be hooked to the onshore receiving facility (ORF) at Sanzule.
Vessel
The FPSO John Agyekum Kufuor is 300m (985ft) long, has a storage capacity of 1.7 million barrels, double hull to reduce environmental risks and a treatment capacity of 58,000 oil barrels per day. It also has a gas injection capacity of 150 million standard cubic feet a day (mmscfd), a maximum future gas-export capacity of 210 mmscfd and condensates.
Its 17 topside modules dedicated to oil and gas treatment have been successfully completed and installed on board.
The project, according to the lead operator, Eni Ghana, complies with the highest environmental standards and the complete in-field re-injection of the associated gas and of all state waters produced; hence it will not flare.
Anatomy
The multimillion-dollar project which passes as one of the critical equipment for the energy sector includes 18 subsea wells which have already been perforated for both oil and gas.
The new John Agyekum Kufour FPSO was then known as Yinson Genesis tanker (formerly Ulriken) and was converted from the Yinson Holdings acquired from Golden State Petro in October 2014.
The contract for the chartering, operation and maintenance of an FPSO vessel (the Contract) for the of offshore Ghana is handled by Eni Ghana Exploration and Production via the consortium of Yinson’s wholly-owned subsidiary and joint venture company, Yinson Production (West Africa) Pte. Ltd.
(YPWA) and Yinson Production West Africa Limited (YPWAL), YPWA is the FPSO chartering company while YPWAL is the company engaged in the operation and maintenance of the FPSO.
The FPSO contract is for a firm charter period of 15 years with five yearly extension options exercisable by Eni Ghana.
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