Workshop on Oil and Gas on local content held

Accra, Aug. 29, GNA - A workshop to design, manage and implement policy instruments to support Ghana's efforts at developing an efficient and sustainable oil and gas industry was held in Accra on Monday.

It is to fine tune the NKOSOO 2015 Project, an initiative of SINTEF, a Norwegian-sponsored project that falls in line with the national goal of enhancing local content for the oil and gas industry.

More specifically, the project would identify and involve local key actors in the establishment of suitable areas for joint learning and development as well as formulate specific improvement proposals for existing companies and develop a shared knowledge base on opportunities and limitations in the interface between global and local industries.

The workshop on the theme, “Strengthening capabilities of local industries for realisation of local content in the oil and gas sector in Ghana” would also give more research based knowledge about the interplay between global and local industries and business practices in Africa

It is a follow-up to one organised on August 16, 2009 for the discussion of the project concept and activities by participating institutions and individuals.

Deputy Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Dr Edward Omane Boamah, addressing the opening session, said it had come at the opportune time to meet the pressing need through analysing, improving existing companies and facilitating inter-company cooperation for Ghana to derive maximum benefits from the oil and gas industry for national development.

He said Norway was playing an important role in conducting baseline research to enable Ghana develop operations in the sector in a selfless manner and emphasised the need for all to be optimistic in aiming at local content in the country's oil and gas sector.

“This is where the model being implemented in the NKOSOO 2015 Project is exemplary. It engages the collaborative institutions directly in operations of the companies; together with the companies they work out the options for improving performance,” he said.

Dr Boamah expressed confidence that the nation was capable of even achieving greater local content than could ever be imagined and was encouraged by the project that the good collaboration between CSIR-STEPRI and SINTEF Technology Society of Norway would continue.

The Director of Science and Technology Policy Research Institute (STEPRI), Dr George O. Essegbey said the project was named NKOSOO 2015 because the Akan word “nkosoo” holds for Ghanaians the very essence of what should be done to make the nation a place where anyone will want to live in “– prosperous, peaceful and one with opportunity for all whether rich or poor, young or old and whatever”.

“Our country holds the dream of achieving a per capita income of ,000 by 2020. It is a dream of possibilities and we certainly can get there if we put our hearts and minds to it,” he added.

Dr Essegbey said STEPRI was particularly happy with the project that together with their collaborators were making strides in contributing towards achieving national policy goal.

“Secondly, the collaboration with our Norwegian partners has proved that development all over the world is a collaborative effort. I can say this for STEPRI that, this is one project we have been fortunate to have people with just the right kind of expertise and experience in the concept we are operationalising to work with.”

He noted that Norway was very well established as a country of tremendous expertise in the oil and gas industry and SINTEF was an organisation with proven record in linking research with industry.

“We are most grateful to the companies we are working with and the lead organisations in the sector specifically GNPC and the Ministry of Energy and of course our own sector Ministry – the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST). Without the companies, our concepts will virtually remain on paper,” he said.

Mr Hakon Hynne, Project Leader and representative of SINTEF expressed satisfaction with the implementation of the Project and noted that the companies involved in the project had been most cooperative.

He was hopeful that the cooperation would continue to the end of the project which could move Ghana closer to her policy goal in achieving local content.

Some companies participating in the workshop and the project are GRATIS Foundation, Macro, Seaweld Engineering, J and R Offshore and L and M companies limited.

GNA