OIL AND GAS DISCOVERY

The Minister of Petroleum, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah says the discovery of oil in commercial quantities in Ghana has the potential to bring significant economic development opportunities to the country.

 However, the challenge, as in so many resource-rich developing countries, is to manage the revenues and follow-up benefits from production of the depleting resource wisely, so that sustainable economic development is achieved. 

Speaking at the inaugurating of a five-storey building for the Petroleum Engineering Department at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Mr. Armah Kofi-Buah noted that Government is aware that the country could be exposed to numerous potential pitfalls such as risks of social unrest and environmental degradation, resulting from poor sector oversight, unrealistic expectations and poor communications within and among stakeholders. 

To mitigate these risks, Government received 38 million Dollars World Bank credit to implement an Oil and Gas Capacity Building Project. Mr. Armah-Kofi Buah explained that the project would rapidly increase the capacity of institutions managing the sector and offer support to institutions which would train the Ghanaian workforce to operate in the oil and gas sector.

 Beneficiary institutions include the Ministry of Petroleum, Petroleum Commission, Regional Maritime University, Takoradi Technical Institute, Kikam Technical Institute and KNUST. According to him, the oil and gas industry requires varying and differing skills sets. The Oil and Gas Capacity Building Project will therefore enhance the competencies of graduates and prepare them adequately for the world of work.