Irish exploration firm Tullow Oil has reported first oil from the Tweneboa, Enyenra and Ntomme (TEN) fields offshore Ghana.

Tullow said first flows of oil had been reached on time and on budget three years after the Ghanaian government approved the development plan.

Tullow expects production to ramp up gradually towards 80,000 barrels of oil a day through the remainder of 2016, and estimates that TEN average annualised production in 2016 will be about 23,000 barrels of oil a day.

The explorer is the operator of the TEN fields and holds a 47.175 per cent stake. Its joint venture partners are Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (17 per cent), Kosmos Energy (17 per cent), Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (15 per cent) and PetroSA (3.875 per cent).

"This is an important moment for Tullow as production begins from our second operated development in Ghana," Tullow Oil chief executive Aidan Heavey said.

Davy Stockbrokers said the first oil de-risks the development project and means the peak of the project’s capital-intensive phase is behind Tullow with cash generation around the corner.