Dublin-founded Tullow Oil has extended the suspension of oil and gas production at its flagship Jubilee field offshore Ghana and now expects exports to restart later this week.

Tullow expects to complete the planned maintenance by Tuesday, it said in a statement. Oil production and gas export from the Jubilee field is now expected to restart on Friday, it said, adding that the restart of exports will allow for final preparations for new sale agreements.

The maintenance at the field started on February 20th after the oil company identified a technical issue at its production vessel offshore Ghana. The company said then output of crude and natural gas had continued as normal.

The Jubilee field produced 102,600 barrels a day of oil in 2015 and is forecast to pump 101,000 a day this year.

Tullow shares have rebounded by 17 per cent in London in 2016, after falling the previous four years. It is the top performer on the Stoxx Europe 600 Oil & Gas index this year.

Bloomberg