Ghana has made significant strides in taking advantage of Local Content Development opportunities presented by its growing industry since oil was discovered.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Petroleum Commission of Ghana, Egbert Faibille Jnr, who disclosed this says some Ghanaian companies provide essential goods and services to the oil companies during exploration and production.
Speaking at the 2022 Local Content Conference and Exhibition held in Takoradi, Egbert Faibille Jnr, said in 2020 for instance, out of a total of $1.3 billion of service contracts awarded in the oil and gas sector, about $238 million went to Indigenous Ghanaian Companies. About $ 1.1 billion also went to Joint Ventures including Indigenous Ghanaian Companies.
Additionally, as at the end of the 3rd Quarter of 2021, they benefited from service contracts worth about $50million out of a total sum of $54Million.
He, however, disclosed that Ghana like other resource rich developing economies has been confronted with the energy transition. According to him, the upstream petroleum sector continues to face challenges, stifling the growth and development of indigenous participation in the sector.
“It is therefore important that we strive to eliminate all barriers of local participation in our industry.
“It is on this basis that the Commission worked with the Ministry of Energy to obtain Parliamentary approval for amendments to L.I. 2204 to further deepen local content in Ghana’s upstream oil and gas industry,” he disclosed.
He said “this is to ensure that Local Content Agenda in the upstream oil and gas industry can still go alongside the need to attract foreign direct investment for the industry”.
Meanwhile Energy Minister, Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh, in his address said, he believes country’s energy transition documents will lead Ghana to move from bad fuel to good fuels using gas as a main bone of its energy production.
“And what have we done in Ghana, as poor as we are, we able to convert all our energy generation from liquid fuels to Gas.
“We don’t get recognition for that, but we did it not because we are waiting for anybody. We did not because anybody is going to bring us any money. We did it because it makes economic sense. It was less polluting and it was far cheaper than liquid fuels. So when I want every home or every household to have a clean cooking system, it is not bad,” he indicated.
The 2022 Local Content Conference and Exhibition was on the theme “Sustaining Local Content Development Through Enhanced Exploration and Production Activities in The Era of Energy Transition”.
By Ebenezer Atiemo|ConnectFM|Onuaonline.com
