Accra, Feb. 8, GNA - The sub sea equipment required for the production of oil from the Jubilee Field off the Coast of Ghana in the Western Region, have begun arriving in the country.

"This is a strong indication that the operator of Jubilee Field, Tullow Ghana Limited, is ready to produce first oil by the last quarter of this year," the company said in a statement issued in Accra on Monday.

The Sekondi Naval Base and the Takoradi Port have been the main entry points for the equipment.

Before the vessels carrying the equipment set sail for Ghana, a team from Tullow Ghana Limited visited some of the companies contracted by the Jubilee Partners as manufacturers.

The companies based in Houston, Texas, USA include MODEC, FMC Technologies, and Spitzer Industries Incorporated.

These are specialized companies that manufacture various sub sea equipment for oil production.

Spitzer Industries Incorporated is well known in the oil industry for the manufacture of Manifolds and Riser Stations, both of which are critical in bringing out the oil from the belly of the sea. FMC Technologies manufactured the "Christmas Trees" for the Jubilee Project.

The Christmas Tree is an assembly of control valves, gauges, pipes, chokes and fittings used to control oil and gas flow from a completed well. They are installed on the ocean floor.

The team also visited the Theodore Spool base in Mobile Alabama, where the Deep Blue Vessel, famed for spooling oil production pipelines, was ready to set off for Ghana.

Some of the pipelines being spooled onto the vessel have a diameter in excess of 17cm and were 1.5km in length.

Mr. Gayheart Mensah, Communications Manager of Tullow Ghana Limited, a member of the team said: "There are expectations among Ghanaians that the oil find should transform Ghana's economy and spin off jobs immediately. These are huge expectations that need to be managed".

He was confident that with the level of technology deployed by Tullow Ghana Limited, and the quality of personnel working on the project, the target date of producing first oil by the last quarter of this year would be achieved.

Tullow with 49.95 per cent, operates the Deepwater Tano licence and is partnered by Kosmos Energy with 18 per cent, Anadarko Petroleum 18 per cent, Sabre Oil and Gas 4.05 per cent and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) carried 10 per cent interest.