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The Petroleum Commission would like to clarify the events/factors leading to the extended shutdown period for maintenance activities to be undertaken on the Kwame Nkrumah FPSO.

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 Ghana National Gas Company and hence gas supply to VRA.

The FPSO has an external turret designed to accommodate flexible risers, electrical pipings which connect subsea production to the surface processing facility.

It has a moving component (the bearing system) which allows the FPSO to rotate around the stationary turret component. The bearing system which connects the Turret head and Chain table permits rotation of the FPSO while transferring loads between the vessel, mooring and riser systems.

Currently, the main bearings aiding the rotation of the FPSO appears damaged and the FPSO is currently 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 the 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 the progress of work on the FPSO.

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, which 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 can start.

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 that operations resume as soon as possible but done safely.