Tullow Oil has announced that production from the Jubilee FPSO vessel Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana is expected to restart in around two weeks.
The company carried out technical investigation on condition of the turret bearing on the FPSO, which revealed that the bearing has been damaged and is no longer able to rotate as originally designed.
In February 2016, SOFEC, the original turret manufacturer, identified a potential issue with the turret bearing.
Additional operating procedures were put in place to monitor the turret bearing and reduce the degree of rotation of the vessel at that time.
Oil production and gas export from the field can be continued but under revised operating and off-take procedures.
The company is currently conducting a root cause analysis and a project team is in the process of evaluating appropriate long-term remediation option.
By using tugs to reduce vessel movement around the bearing, Kwame Nkrumah has been placed on heading control.
The company is implementing new operating procedures, including the use of a dynamically positioned shuttle tanker and a storage tanker to assure safe production and off-take operations.
Tullow Oil chief operating officer Paul McDade said: "We are focused on resolving this issue with the bearing on the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah in a timely and safe manner.
"Given the ability to continue production and because we have the appropriate insurance policies in place, we do not expect that this issue will have a material impact on our revenue."
Discovered in 2007 by Kosmos Energy and developed by Tullow Oil, the Jubilee oilfield is located 60km offshore, between the Deepwater Tano and West Cape Three Points blocks in Ghana.
Image: Floating production storage and offloading vessel Kwame Nkrumah. Photo: courtesy of Tullow Oil plc.
