Tullow Oil has issued an update on its investigation of the condition of the turret bearing on the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah, serving the Jubilee field offshore Ghana.
Inspection has confirmed that the bearing is damaged and can no longer rotate as originally designed. Oil production and gas export can continue but under revised operating and off-take procedures.
Tullow’s teams are undertaking a root cause analysis and are assessing the best long-term remediation option. Initial feasibility studies suggest the bearing issue can be resolved.
The FPSO has been placed on “heading control” which involves use of tugs to minimize movement of the vessel around the bearing.
New operating procedures are also being implemented, including use of a dynamically-positioned 250,000-bbl shuttle tanker and a 1-MMbbl storage tanker to ensure safe production and off-take operations.
Tullow currently estimates production from the FPSO will re-start in around two weeks but will also take time to ramp-up.
By John Kelly
