First Oil In November

It is official and oil will begin gushing out of the Jubilee field in commercial quantities in November this year. Initially, Ghana will harvest only 5,000 barrels a day but this will increase substantially to 120,000 barrels a day. Officials operating the Jubilee field however told a briefing session of Ghanaian Journalists in Singapore last week that it is important to be cautious and not to raise expectations to wild levels. �One oil field is not an oil industry and there is a lot more work to be done. The future is bright and we are very hopeful�, said Mr. Thomas Manou, an official of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC). Ghana�s overall income including taxes, royalties, dividends and others is currently estimated at more than 50 per cent in spite of the fact that the GNPC has only 10 per cent shares in the venture. So far preparations for exploiting the oil have reached a very advanced stage with the installation of needed equipment on the sea bed completed. A floating vessel for the storage and distribution of oil and gas is also nearing completion at a shipyard in Singapore. With a work force of 1500 people spanning several disciplines including engineers, mechanics, seamen, geologists and administrators, the vessel is expected to be ready to move to Ghana in May this year. The vessel is the size of at least five football fields and is seven storey�s high. It has three power plants capable of generating up to 90 megawatts of electricity and equipment for separating water, gas and crude oil. The vessel is yet to be named and is expected to be commissioned in May by his Excellency, President Evans Atta Mills. The conservative cost of the vessel is US$800million.