The FPSO Kwame Nkrumah will be shut down in early 2018 to allow for continuation of repair works, Minister of Energy, Boakye Agyarko, has said.
“The repair works on the turret of the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah, also referred to as the Turret Remediation Project (TRP), is being done in two phases. Phase-1 entails activities under the Interim Solution whilst Phase-2 deals with the Long-Term Solution (Permanent Spread Monitoring),” he told parliament last Friday in response to a question posed by former Petroleum Minister and MP for Ellembelle Constituency, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah.
The minister further explained that the aspect of the TRP currently being undertaken, “Bearing Stabilisation” on the turret, is the final stage of the Interim Solution. Pending any unforeseen developments, this stage of repair works is expected to be completed by December, 2018, to pave way for the commencement of the Long-Term Solution.
For a period of three weeks each, two shutdowns are expected, starting January 18, 2018 and again on March 7, 2018, which will interrupt the production of oil and gas.
During the periods of shutdown, gas supply will be augmented with gas from Tweneboa, Enyenra, Ntomme (TEN) fields to power thermal plants in a bid to stabilise power supply in the country.
According to the Minister, the schedule for the implementation of final repair works include the following: award of an Offshore Offloading System contract in the last quarter of this year, completion of turret repair works and readiness for FPSO rotation in the second quarter of 2018, permanent spread mooring in the third quarter of 2018 and, finally, the installation of an Offshore Offloading System (OOS) scheduled for the last quarter of 2019.
In the interim, Boakye Agyarko said: “offloading will continue to be by means of a shuttle tanker until quarter four of 2019 when the Offshore Offloading system will be in place.”
