Jubilee FPSO heading stabilized, further shift needed

June 28, 2017
Following completion of the interim spread mooring of the Jubilee FPSO offshore Ghana, the vessel is now anchored to the seabed and held on a constant heading, with the turret bearing locked.

Offshore staff

LONDON – Following completion of the interim spread mooring of the Jubilee FPSO offshore Ghana, the vessel is now anchored to the seabed and held on a constant heading, with the turret bearing locked.

OperatorTullow Oil, its partners, and Ghana’s government have agreed on the need to stabilize the turret bearing and this will be done during a five-eight-week shutdown later this year.

Planning continues for rotation of the vessel to its optimum heading and installation of a deepwater offloading system, with the program likely to be executed in two stages during 2018 and 2019.

Discussions are progressing on theGreater Jubilee full field development plan (GJFFD) which looks set to be re-submitted by the end of July, with a view to starting drilling to commence in 2018.

Data from a 4D seismic survey earlier this year will help optimize the location of GJFFD wells and assist with reservoir management.

As for Tullow’s nearby deepwaterTEN development, trials to optimize the facilities throughput have resulted in production levels exceeding 50,000 b/d of oil.

Earlier this month, a final commissioning capacity test and facility blowdown proved that the FPSO could operate above its design capacity of 80,000 b/d.

However, an issued emerged with the FPSO’s flaring system, which has since been addressed following a 10-day shutdown of the facility.

The TEN gas manifold has also been installed and commissioned and a gas export trial has been completed to the GNGC facilities.

Final oral hearings were held in February at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea concerning the maritime border dispute between Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, which has caused development drilling at TEN to be suspended.

A final ruling is expected around end-September 2017. Subject to a positive decision, the TEN partners hope to drill the remaining wells around the end of the year.

To the northwest offshore Mauritania, Tullow’s 600-sq km (231-sq mi) 3D survey in block C18 has been completed and a further 3D survey will start in September over block C3 to cover new shallow-water plays.

06/28/2017