With the attention of the world firmly fixed on the World Cup in South Africa, a very historic event in the global oil and gas industry will attract only limited international attention when FPSO Nkrumah steams into Ghana’s territorial waters today.

With the arrival of the FPSO today, the stage is now set for the historic extraction of oil from Ghana’s recently discovered Jubilee Oil Fields to begin but the unusual marine vessel itself will be a subject of some wonder and curiosity.

The mental image of a colossal 12, 500 tonnes of solid material the size of three football stadiums put together floating on water, quite challenges the imagination and most Ghanaians will no doubt watch this gargantuan symbol of the nation’s expected oil wealth on television with amazement.

FPSO Nkrumah has been named after Ghana’s first president Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and for sheer size and splendour, is most deserving of the late Nkrumah’s famous nickname: Show Boy.

Outside the oil and gas industry, the acronym FPSO is unfamiliar. In the literature of the industry, FPSO refers to a “Floating Production, Storage and Offloading” vessel. FPSOs are actually large oil tankers {also known as super tankers} with oil production facilities installed on board.

There are two methods of producing oil and transporting the commodity from deep water oil wells to shore: One method is to build pipelines for transporting the oil from deep water to shore but building long distance pipes from oil fields far offshore to shore, is not only prohibitively expensive but in some cases impracticable.

The other method is to invest in an FPSO. The FPSO has become the most popular method of bringing oil from offshore fields like Ghana’s Jubilee fields to shore. FPSOs eliminate the need to lay very expensive, long-distance pipelines for transporting oil and gas.

FPSOs are anchored to the seabed. Crude oil from off shore is carried up to the vessel from manifolds through a hose or piping system. The crude oil enters the vessel through a “turret.” The oil is then treated and held on board the FPSO in tanks, before being offloaded to oil tankers which then cart the commodity off to local refineries or to foreign buyers.

There are two main types of FPSOs: One type is the converted oil tanker option where a super tanker is converted into an FPSO by installing all the necessary production and storage facilities on board.

The second type is the purpose built FPSO-a vessel originally built with oil and gas production and storage facilities on it.

An FPSO may be designed so that it can either be disconnected or remain permanently moored. FPSOs which can be disconnected are convenient for oil fields with a limited lifespan so that once the field is depleted, the FPSO can be moved to a new location.

FPSOs which can be disconnected have obvious advantages over fixed installations: The ability to relocate an FPSO at short notice is very important because oil and gas are often found in ecologically turbulent geographical regions. Violent cyclones, tornadoes and windstorms could easily cause immense damage to an FPSO. Where there is early warning however, an FPSO designed so that it can be disconnected, quickly releases its moorings and riser-turret and is either towed away or steams away under its own power. When the danger is over, the FPSO can simply return and connect its riser turret again to receive oil or gas for production and storage. Two key concerns for the Jubilee partners {Tullow Oil, Kosmos Energy, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, the E.O. Group, Sabre Oil and Anadarko} will relate to efficient maintenance and security of FPSO Nkrumah: Experts in the industry say FPSOs last a long time if they are maintained properly: Tanks need to be effectively cleaned and maintenance programmes carried out using “water jetting” and “water cutting” to clean away sludge and other contaminants.

What will life be like for those who will be working on board FPSO Nkrumah? Most FPSOs have offices, eating areas, recreational and medical facilities and safe, comfortable living accommodation in multi-storey apartments for up to 500 persons and more.

Facilities on FPSO Nkrumah also include a water treatment plant, a crude separation plant, a chemical injection plant, a gas processing and injection plant, a turret, an electricity generation plant and a 120-room living area with social amenities all weighing a total of 12,500 tonnes.

Though all FPSO are huge vessels, they vary in size across offshore fields around the world:

The world's largest FPSO is the Kizomba. It was built in Korea by Hyundai Heavy Industries Limited at a cost of US$ 800 million and has a storage capacity of 2.2 million barrels. FPSO Kizomba is operated by Esso Exploration Angola and sits in 3,940 feet of water offshore in Angola.

The smallest FPSO in the world is the Crystal Ocean, operating in 137 m of water in the Bass Strait located between Australia and Tasmania.

FPSO Nkrumah was converted from a super tanker by leading international FPSO builder MODEC at the Jurong Shipyard in Singapore, at a cost of $875 million. It can process 120,000 barrels of oil a day and has a storage capacity of 1.6 million barrels.

GEORGE SYDNEY ABUGRI