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Oil, gas production to resume at Jubilee Field … despite FPSO challenges

  • SOURCE: | qwesa2big
  • fpsoProduction of oil and gas in the Jubilee Field is expected to resume in the coming days, despite the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah’s challenges, the Petroleum Commission has said.

    The Petroleum Commission in a statement said: “In the interim, efforts are being made to resume production of crude oil and export of gas to GNGC by bringing in a Dynamic Position (DP) tanker which is currently at location to offload crude oil from the FPSO to a storage tanker that is also on location.  An export tanker will come alongside the storage tanker to undertake a ship to ship transfer, so that production at the Jubilee Field can start”.

    The FPSO was shut down on March 20, 2016 for a two-week planned routine maintenance, but production operation has not resumed due to technical challenges on the turret.

    The extension of the routine maintenance period has disrupted crude oil production and gas export to the Ghana National Gas Company and hence gas supply to Volta River Authority—which has adversely affected electricity production.

    The FPSO has an external turret designed to accommodate flexible risers and electrical pipes which connect subsea production to the surface processing facility. It has a moving component (the bearing system) that allows the FPSO to rotate around the stationary turret component. The bearing system connects the Turret head, and the Chain table permits rotation of the FPSO while transferring loads between the vessel, mooring and riser systems.

    Currently, the main bearings aiding rotation of the FPSO appear to be damaged and the FPSO has been put on ‘heading control’, with two tug-boats holding it.

    A team, headed by Tullow, is undertaking an analysis to find the root-cause of the malfunction, after which a decision is expected to be taken about a long-term solution to this situation.  A certification body, DNVGL, is providing assurance for the work. A two-member team from the Commission led by the Health Safety and Environment Manager and Inspection Engineer are part of the team monitoring progress of work on the FPSO.

    “The Petroleum Commission would like to assure the general public that it appreciates their concerns and the impact of these challenges on the economy in general. However, as it is with complex systems of this nature, unforeseen challenges may occur. All efforts are being deployed to ensure operations resume as soon as possible, but done so safely,” the statement said.

    Source : http://thebftonline.com/commodities/oil-gas/18663/oil-gas-production-to-resume-at-jubilee-field-despite-fpso-challenges-.html#sthash.NB3QXnIX.dpuf

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