Government is working audaciously to ensure it meets its target of producing 120,000 barrels of oil a day compared to the 110,000 barrels it is currently producing.
The Director of Petroleum at the Ministry of Energy, Dr Paul Frimpong told the GRAPHIC BUSINESS in an interview after the opening of the oil and gas career fair in Accra that due to the challenge of sand infiltration into boreholes used for drilling, production was interrupted intermittently.
The fair which is on the theme “Mapping your future” was endorsed by the Ministry of Energy and is to practically address challenges associated with the introduction of new workers into the sector.
Those challenges he however said were been resolved but plans were far advanced to meet the set target of producing 120,000 barrels a day for the first phase of the project.
“Our plan in the first phase is to get 120,000 barrels per day but due to challenges with respect to the sand that were infiltrating into the borehole, we had that problem for some time but it was resolved quickly but currently production is around 110,000 barrels,” he said.
One of such government initiatives to drive the oil and gas sector, he said was the formulation of the Local Content Policy, which provides the policy framework for regulating the emerging sector.
According to him, the policy contains the fundamental principles for the sector and was “expected to drive the sustainable development of our oil and gas endowment.”
This is he said would be made possible through the identification of stakeholders and their roles, capacity and training, technology transfer and its utilisation, infrastructure development, creation of conducive and thriving environment to encourage optimum local participation.
To encourage local participation in the sector, Dr Frimpong said government would also integrate the oil and gas sector into the long term national development plan.
Government he explained was in the process of setting up a Small and Medium Enterprise in Takoradi to train companies and individuals who want to participate in the oil and gas sector to bring them up to meet standards of international oil companies.
That notwithstanding, Dr Frimpong explained the quantum of local content and the extent to which local people can participate in the oil and gas sector was limited with respect to finance, human resource and technology.
He said the oil industry had been a major driver of economies where policy makers have prudently managed resources resulting in remarkable transformation of the fortunes of those countries.
Responding to a question on the extent to which the Petroleum Bill had advanced, he said it was being worked up but was however not privy to information on its current state adding the legal department at the ministry was in a better position to give detailed information about that.
The Chief of Staff at Tullow Oil, Mr Kofi Esson also told the GRAPHIC BUSINESS the company was poised to encourage enthusiasm among students and graduates who were interested in the oil and gas sector adding “you have to expose them and spark the interest, to help them become industry champions”. GB
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