The First Lady, Rebecca Akufo-Addo says naming Ghana's latest Floating Production and-Storage Offloading (FPSO) vessel after former President J.A. Kufuor was well-deserved. 

She lauded how he turned Ghana around from a Highly Indebted and Poor Country (HIPC) to a lower middle-income-earning country in a record time of about six years adding the act showed Ghanaians appreciation of for his good deeds during his tenure.

Speaking at the launch of the Floating Production and-Storage Offloading (FPSO) vessel, John Agyekum Kufuor, at the Keppel shipyard in Singapore, Friday, the special guest of honour commended the former President for his foresight in restructuring the oil sector during his administration. 

The vessel named after the former president will operate in the Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) oilfields in the Western Region. It is the largest of the three FPSOs in Ghana and the first equipped to convert both gas and oil on the same platform.

Former President Kufuor expressed his appreciation to Ghanaians for the honour done him and praised the former National Democratic Congress (NDC) government led by former President John Mahama for proposing to name the vessel after him.

He also commended the current New Patriotic Party government led by President Nana Akufo-Addo, for carrying through with the proposal.

He traced the oil exploration in Ghana from the 1890’s through various governments till 2007 when the first commercially viable quantities of oil was found under his administration in 2007. 

FPSO John Agyekum Kufuor, expected to sail into Ghanaian waters by April 2017, is operated by ENI Petroleum, Ghana, Limited, Vitol Upstream, Ghana Limited and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation.

It was built by Keppel Offshore and Marine Shipyard Company of Singapore.