ANOTHER key milestone for the Jubilee Oil Field operations has been chalked up with the arrival of the Technip's Deep Pioneer vessel in the country for the installation of the Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) platform to the subsea structures.
This backs the announcement that by November this year, the first oil will flow from the wells of the jubilee field off the coast of Cape Three Points in the Western Region.
The arrival of the vessel with flexible pipes onboard according to officials of the contracted company, Technip was very important as the new phase of the construction work , which was the connection of the subsea field to link the FPSO, would start on the Jubilee field.
According to the Country Manager, Mr Stephane Sole the vessel was a multi-purpose vessel and would be used for the flexible risers and dynamic umbilicals.
He said two other vessels would also arrive soon to support the Deep Pioneer for the offshore installation. “These heavy lift vessels will transport dynamic umbilicals from Houston and additional flexible risers spooled in carrousel and on reels with associated buoyancy modules to enhance the operations offshore.”
The country director said with the arrival, they would finish the installations in approximately three months and was within the timetable for the country’s first oil which was scheduled for November 2010.
He said safety and reliability was the hallmark of every aspect of operations in offshore business and that the flexible risers had been designed and manufactured in Technip Group's center of expertise for flexible pipe technology in France which was the world's first and largest unbounded flexible pipe manufacturing facility.
He said the flexible pipe was made up of several different layers with the main components being the leak-proof thermoplastic barriers and corrosion resistant steel wires to the highest standard and world class specification.
The helically- wound- steel wires he said would give the structure its high-pressure resistance and excellent bending characteristics, thus providing flexibility and superior dynamic behaviour.
He said the jubilee project was very important and they would adopt world approach and that this modular construction, where the layers were independent and designed to interact with one another, “means that each layer can be made fit-for-purpose and independently adjusted to best meet a specific field development requirement.”
With the friendly business environment existing in the country, he was confident that his company was in for business and would position itself as a good corporate citizen.
Technip since its inception has trained a number of Ghanaians in both offshore and onshore operation to give meaning to its local content concept.
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