Report by Ben LARYEA
The Petroleum Commission has urged players in the petroleum upstream sector to put in
place fervent training in the areas of skilled workforce to help build capacities of Ghanaian
workers to be abreast with emerging trends and also be at a competitive advantage of
expatriates in the oil and gas industry.
According to the Commission, workers particularly in the areas of welding, fabrication,
pipefitting, technicians, and electricians among others must be periodically trained to enable
workers exhibit best practices and also meet international standards in the petroleum sector.
Speaking at the 2023 upstream job role localisation conference in Accra under the theme“Utilising Trained Ghanaian Technicians to Achieve Job Role Localisation in the Petroleum
Upstream Sector, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Petroleum Commission, Mr. Egbert
Faibille Jnr. said his outfit have put in place adequate strategies to ensure active participation
through employment, training and capacity building for Ghanaians in the upstream oil and
gas sector.
The move he said actualise the realisation of provisions in the Petroleum Local content and
Local Participation Regulations, 2013 L.I. 2204 and explained further that government have
rolled out flagship programmes such as the Accelerated Oil and Gas Capacity building
programme (AOGC), Ghana Upstream Sector Internship Programme (GUSIP) and the Ghana
Welding Bureau (GWB) as part of the drive in developing the capacities of Ghanaians and
Technical Training Institutions to make impact on skilled workforce.
“Training in the oil and gas sector are very essential therefore Ghanaians must take advantage
of the programmes and ensure that they receive certification to enable them to take up
competitive roles in the sector”, he said and pointed out that Ghanaians should aspire to the
positions of expatriates and explained further that the move will also lead to the gradual
replacement and reduction of expatriates.
He, however, commended the training institutions for their frantic efforts to building capacity
of Ghanaians and urged stakeholders to deliberate and discuss the challenges and the way
forward in the sector to help the indigenes of Ghana fully benefit from the petroleum resource
and to develop the country.
The Minister for Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh in a speech read on his behalf
commended the Commission for its tireless effort to achieve and create jobs for Ghanaians in
the sector particularly scaling up the local content approach saying it is the surest way
Ghanaian can have a deep stake in the petroleum upstream sector.
According to the Minister, government have rolled out the needed programmes and training
to build capacities for skilled workforce particularly graduates in their respective disciplines
upon which some gave vivid accounts and testimonies on job description and satisfaction.
The government will continue to support the oil and gas sector to enable Ghanaians to exhibit
self-reliance in all working endeavours, saying, the programme form part of Ghana
Beyond Aid initiative
