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Quest for local content for oil and gas sector receives a boost …as Belmet 7 fabricates vital parts of FPSO Nkrumah

Belmet 7, an oil and gas logistics and fabrication company based at the Takoradi port has commenced work on the fabrication of vital parts for repair works on FPSO Kwame Nkrumah, located  on the Jubilee Fields.

The repair works under the Jubilee Oil Offloading System (OOSys) project which comprises the design, fabrication, installation and integration of an OOSys, will see Belmet 7 making seven suction piles, topside FPSO module, pigging skids and a hang off platform.

The project is expected to be completed in May this year.

The General Manager of Belmet 7, Loic Chateau, told journalists here last Thursday that “the pigging skid component of the project, which regulates the flow and cleaning of the pipelines, is the first ever topside FPSO module that has been wholly manufactured in-country, specifically in the Port of Takoradi.”

He said the in-country successful fabrication of the components of the Oil Offloading System module opens the door for more FPSO modules to be fabricated locally in Ghana.

“The confidence in oil and gas operators in Ghana would be built and we believe that there is the possibility of having such modules including accommodation module, refinery/processing module, crude oil offloading module done here.”

With the advent of the Jubilee operations  in 2010, Belmet 7 and partners, have since been fabricating suction  piles,  but,  this time, has  added more products  including hang-offs and pigging skids.

Suction piles or suction anchors are used as underwater foundations for various offshore structures including FPSOs while the cable hang-off system is designed for securing medium and high voltage power cables to the top of a foundation including oil platform.

The hang-off platform would be loaded onto the barge at the Belmet 7 quayside in the Takoradi Port, on Thursday, January 9, for transfer to the offshore project site.

The sea-fastening or securing of the loaded 7 suction piles was also being done while preparation of the cam buoy for onward transfer to the offshore project site in a week’s time had also started.

Meanwhile, loading of 7 suction piles fabricated, started on Friday,  January 3, 2020 and completed on Tuesday  January 7.

 The entire load out operation will be completed by mid February 2020 and the entire project will be completed by May 20, 2020.

As part of efforts to rectify the turret bearing failure which affected oil offloading capacity of FPSO Kwame Nkrumah and also  restore its  full capacity, Tullow Oil in 2018, commissioned a 23-month project to that end, and awarded the contract to Subsea 7.

Later, in December 2018, Subsea 7, also subcontracted the fabrication of some of the project’s key components to Belmet 7.

Commenting on the significance of the project, the Subsea 7 representative on site, Theophilus Ofori said: “This is a significant milestone and it is a good news to the local oil and gas industry and the economy. The successful completion of the fabrication project components by Belmet 7 in Ghana is a boost specifically in the Port of Takoradi.”

He added that it was  a further boost in the local content participation requirements of the Petroleum Commission with the attendant revenue flow to local content providers.

The Marketing and Public Affairs Manager at the Takoradi Port, Mr PeterAmoo-Bediako, also told journalists that the project showed the support the port had given to the  oil and gas  industry since 2017.

“We are on track in achieving our vision of becoming a dominant player in the oil and gas industry. Today, Belmet 7, apart from the suction piles had designed, fabricated and completed top sides for the FPSO,” he added.

FROM CLEMENT ADZEI BOYE, TAKORADI PORT

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