Tullow Oil gets operations in Ghana back up and running ahead of schedule. Oil and natural gas are seen as economic cornerstones for West African nation. Photo courtesy of Tullow Oil.
LONDON, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- Africa-focused Tullow Oil said it should meet its 2015 production guidance now that operations are up and running ahead of schedule at a major field in Ghana.
Tullow, which has headquarters in London, suspended gas exports from the offshore Jubilee field to a Ghanain gas plant in early July because of technical issues at a gas compression system on floating production vessel. The company said in a statement the problem was resolved several days ahead of the scheduled mid-August restart.
"With production back to normal at Jubilee, we expect to meet our full year production guidance," Tullow Oil Chief Executive Officer Aidan Heavey said in a statement.
Natural gas exports from Jubilee formally resumed Aug. 3 and has increased steadily to around 100 million cubic feet per day. Oil production from one of the largest regional field has increased in parallel.
Gas field development in Ghana is expected to help transform the nation's economy. The nation's fields hold enough natural gas to feed the country's power sector for the next 20 years.
Described by the World Bank as a national priority, the combined development plan aims to tap into reserves with as much as 1.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Production of oil associated with the Jubilee field was constricted to around 65,000 barrels per day because of the offshore technological glitch. At its peak, Jubilee could eventually produce more than 125,000 bpd.
Tullow last year announced initial plans to cut back in response to low oil prices.
"Tullow continues to make good progress in 2015 having reset the business and with continued emphasis on managing costs, capital expenditure and the balance sheet," Heavey said.
