President Mahama and Seth Tekper arriving from the TEN field
President John Dramani Mahama officially turned on the production valve of the Floating Production Storage and Offloading Vessel (FPSO) John Evans Atta Mills yesterday to mark the commercial production of oil at the Tweneboa, Enyenra and Ntomme (TEN) Fields.
“As a nation, together with our partners, we have worked hard to bring on stream today the TEN field to produce approximately 76,000 barrels of oil per day and approximately 15 million standard cubic feet of gas,” he said at the colourful ceremony at the Takoradi Air Force Base yesterday.
The President mentioned that despite the setbacks encountered during the development of the field, first oil was achieved on time and on budget.
He pointed out that the expected gas from the field in 2017 would be transported to the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant to boost power generation and production of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).
President Mahama further indicated that production at the TEN Field would also enhance oil revenue.
“Ghana will soon be producing an average of about 300 million standard cubic feet of gas on the daily basis when the $7 billion ENI, Sankofa projects also comes on stream,” he noted.
He added that the entire hydro-carbon potential and its prospects would among others accelerate government’s Economic Transformation and Livelihood Empowerment programme, which seeks to create more jobs.
Minister for Petroleum, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, mentioned that the progress Ghana has made in the oil and gas industry was a clear testament that the country was becoming the preferred destination for investment in the West African sub-region.
“We have not only created the necessary institutions to ensure continuous exploration, development and production of hydro-carbon resources, but we have also put in place the needed legal and policy framework to ensure that Ghana becomes the attractive destination for investors,” he indicated.
He mentioned that the Petroleum Commission had been established to regulate and manage the utilization of the petroleum resources.
“There is also the passage of the petroleum local content and local participation regulations to enhance the participation of Ghanaians in the sector and the passage of the Petroleum Exploration and Production Bill 2016, which provides robust legal regime for the conduct of petroleum operations in Ghana,” he added.
Aidan Heavey, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tullow Oil, indicated that he was proud of the role his outfit played in unlocking Ghana’s oil resources at TEN and Jubilee fields and stressed that Tullow would continue to partner Ghana for many years.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi