Ghana’s Minister for Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has charged regulators in the country’s upstream petroleum industry to be vigilant and patriotic to enable the government to realize its vision of promoting Ghanaian participation in the industry.
According to Minister Prempeh, the purpose of passing Petroleum (Local Content &Local Participation Regulations, 2013; L.I 2204) was to ensure that Ghanaians benefit more from the exploitation of the country’s natural resources.
“If you don’t show spine, you will be abused, so people who work in the regulatory space must be holier than holy and patriotic,” Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh said while delivering a speech at the launching of the 2023 Local Content Conference and Exhibition slated for November in Takoradi, the capital of the Western Region.
In May 2019, Tullow, which is the lead operator of Ghana’s Jubilee Field, said it had awarded Gh¢10 billion contracts to indigenous companies and joint ventures.
Many people are of the view that Ghana has not benefited much from its oil resources since 2010 when the country started commercial oil production.
Data shared by Dr Theo Acheampong, a Ghanaian Petroleum Economist, in 2021, showed that oil production from the three oil fields namely; Jubilee, TEN, and Sankofa Gye Nyame(SGN) was about 453.89 million barrels since 2010.
Out of the figure, 452.02 barrels were lifted by all the partners, and proceeds from the sale of oil were US$31.62 billion.
Sadly, Ghana’s share stood at $6.55 billion, representing 17.74 percent.
To ensure that more Ghanaians benefit from the oil resources, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh said under his administration, the upstream sector had seen an amendment to L.I. 2204 with the passage of the Petroleum (Local Content and Local Participation) (Amendment) Regulations, 2021; L.I. 2435.
“L.I. 2435 was passed on 17th January 2022. L.I. 2435 is the first amendment to L.I. 2204 and occurred under my watch,” he said.
The Minister added that the regulation had opened up collaborations between indigenous Ghanaian companies (IGCs) and foreign entities that desire to undertake various scopes of contracts in servicing the exploration and production (E&P) spectrum in the country.
“Whereas L.I. 2204 essentially provided for joint venture partnerships as the main mode of collaboration between IGCs and foreign companies to undertake petroleum activities—oilfield services in Ghana, L.I. 2435 has added a strategic alliance and channel partnership,” he said.
On his part, the Chief Executive Officer of the Petroleum Commission, Egbert Faibille Jnr, said the conference was organised in fulfillment of L.I 2204 which enjoined the Commission in Regulation 40 “to leave the comfort of its offices and take the local content agenda to town.
“The commission shall ensure that public education activities are undertaken to sensitise contractors, subcontractors, allied entities, the public and industry stakeholders about the local content philosophy and to ensure the implementation of the regulations,” Mr Faibille said.
He explained that although this year’s conference was the eighth since its inception, it had been heralded by a launch to show that the country had handled local content in the upstream petroleum sector by operation of the law.
Mr Faibille said the support the country had received from its international partners in the implementation of the local content regulations confirmed the government’s policy of providing a level playing field for all investors.
“The country’s local content regulations are a vehicle for partnering investors to develop local capacities for mutual benefits to investors and the citizenry,” Mr Faibille Jnr added.
The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu, urged players in the industry to leave the low-hanging fruits for citizens to also benefit.
“When the people are trained by the oil companies, they can take advantage because it’s not proper that after years of discovering oil, there is still a skillset gap.
“If after 15 years you have not trained us, then it is your problem,” Mr Osei-Owusu said.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
