Ghana’s second FPSO named in Singapore

Ghana’s second floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, for the Tweneboa, Enyenra and Ntomme (TEN) Project, off the west coast of Ghana, has been named in Singapore.

Her Excellency the First Lady of the Republic of Ghana, Dr Nana Lordina Mahama, at a ceremony in Singapore on Wednesday, officially named the vessel ‘FPSO Prof. John Evans Atta Mills’, after the late president who oversaw first oil from Ghana’s Jubilee Field in 2010.

FPSO Prof. John Evans Atta Mills will produce and store oil from Ghana’s TEN oilfields which lie around 60 kilometres from the coast of the Western Region.

Tullow Oil, the operator of TEN fields, says that the vessel is nearing the end of its construction at Sembcorp Marine Shipyard in Singapore and is due to sail for Ghana around the end of 2015. It is expected to arrive in Ghanaian waters in February 2016 to be hooked-up to the subsea production equipment which is being installed on the seabed in the TEN fields, Tullow says. The FPSO will start producing oil in mid-2016.

Her Excellency Dr Nana Lordina Mahama paid tribute to the contribution of Ghanaian artisans to the construction of the FPSO. Ghanaian companies Seaweld Engineering Ltd and Orsam Ltd fabricated the module support stools which sit on the deck to support heavy equipment. In addition, the FPSO’s anchor piles, which will keep the vessel moored in place, were built in Ghana by Group Five Construction Ghana Ltd. Tullow says that the anchor piles were completed on time and are already installed in the seabed in the TEN fields, awaiting the arrival of the FPSO.

The First Lady also met some of the Ghanaians who have been working on the construction of the vessel in Singapore, many of whom will be part of the crew that will operate the FPSO when it begins producing.

FPSO Prof. John Evans Atta Mills was converted from an oil tanker into an FPSO over a period of two years. It is 340 metres long and will have the capacity to process up to 80,000 barrels of oil per day from the TEN fields.

The First Lady said: “It has been my great pleasure to officially name this magnificent FPSO today in honour of a true Ghanaian statesman, the late Professor Atta Mills. During my tour of the vessel, I saw for myself the impressive facilities onboard and it gives me great pride to know that this state-of-the-art FPSO will be producing oil for Ghana for many years to come.”

The development of the TEN fields is being led by Tullow Oil along with its partners the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, Kosmos Energy and Petro SA.

The construction of the FPSO has been led by floating production solution provider MODEC.

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