Ghana aims to handle Jubilee gas this year: Update

Spanish Market: Crude oil, Natural gas
09/04/14

Ghana's government aims...

Adds new fifth and sixth paragraphs

Ghana's government aims to complete a delayed key plant to handle gas produced at the London-listed Tullow Oil operated offshore Jubilee field by the end of this year.

Jubilee's crude production has been limited to about 104,000 b/d this year because gas produced at the field has to be re-injected, keeping crude production below capacity of more than 120,000 b/d.

State-owned Ghana Gas had planned to complete the Atuabo gas handling plant last year. But limited financing has delayed project completion. The plant is designed to handle around 150mn ft³/d (1.5bn m³/yr) of gas and would increase domestic power supplies.

"Hopefully the thermal plant will be able to use gas from our oil fields by the end of the year," Ghana petroleum commission chief executive Theo Ahwireng said.

Ghana Gas aims to commission Atuabo by the end of July. Ghana Gas and Tullow are also building a support pipeline to the Aboadze gas plant that could receive gas from Jubilee.

The Atuabo facility would also produce 600 t/yr of LPG, which would represent about 75pc of Ghana's domestic LPG demand, Ghana Gas chief executive George Sipa-Adjah Yankey said.

The Ghana government has also considered allowing Tullow to flare gas at Jubilee to allow crude production to increase.

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