One Vessel, $205M, and a Big Shift for Tullow in Ghana

Tullow buys Ghana FPSO for $205M, ending lease costs and boosting long-term field economics

9 Mar 2026

Oil companies often prefer to lease the giant ships that pump crude from deep water. Tullow Oil has decided to buy one instead.

On February 19th the London-listed firm agreed to pay $205m for the FPSO Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, the floating production, storage and offloading vessel serving its TEN oil fields offshore Ghana. The ship has operated there since 2016 under a lease from MODEC. By purchasing it outright, Tullow hopes to trim the fixed costs of producing oil from the Deep Water Tano block.

The economics have recently improved. Ghana’s parliament has ratified extensions to the petroleum agreements covering both the TEN and Jubilee fields until December 2040. That gives Tullow and its partners far longer to pump crude and therefore more time to benefit from owning the vessel rather than renting it.

Tullow will not shoulder the full bill. Its net share of the purchase is roughly $125.6m, with the rest split among partners including Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Kosmos Energy and PetroSA. Completion of the deal is expected in the first quarter of 2027.

The company argues that the shift will remove annual lease payments and release additional free cash flow once the transaction closes. That money could help sustain investment in Ghana, which forms the backbone of Tullow’s portfolio. The firm also hopes to tighten operational links between the TEN fields and the nearby Jubilee development, another core asset.

Operational performance has been strong. The floating vessels serving Tullow’s Ghana fields recorded uptime of about 97% in 2025, suggesting the infrastructure is reliable. Financially, the company has also recently extended debt facilities and arranged a fresh $100m liquidity line with Glencore.

The move hints at a broader calculation in offshore oil. Where licences run long and fields remain productive, ownership of expensive infrastructure may prove cheaper than leasing it. With West Africa’s deep-water projects still attracting investment, other operators may be tempted to follow Tullow’s lead.