Tullow to produce first Ghana oil in December

Tullow Oil, the major stakeholder in Ghana’s largest oil field, the Jubilee oil field, says commercial production plans are on course and the first cargo of oil will begin in December.

A Wall Street Journal report citing a senior executive of Tullow Oil, Robin Sutherland, said the set target of producing oil in commercial quantity in the fourth quarter of the year will be met.

“First oil is on schedule for the fourth quarter, so discovery to first oil in 40 months,” Robin Sutherland, the exploration manager for the Gulf of Guinea was quoted as saying at the Africa Petroleum Conference in London.

“We feel it is a common mistake that oil companies make in neglecting their exploration roots,” said Sutherland. “We have no intention in doing this, and 80% of our 2010 capital will be spent in Africa,” the report quoted him as saying.

According to Sutherland, the company is on target for the Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel to sail in May, and has already started well-completion activities.

He indicated that the first stage development cost of the Jubilee field had remained within the original $3.1 billion budget. The field’s output is expected to ramp-up to 120,000 barrels a day within six months of first oil produced.

Tullow has also developed its own transport company, including helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft in order to access the site, Sutherland said.

Oil was first discovered in Ghana in commercial quantity in 2007. The country has since become a major destination point for some of the world’s major oil producers and some African companies as well.

The country’s relative peace and demicratic credentials make the country attractive to investors in Ghana’s nascent oil industry.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi