Local university deliberates on Ghana’s oil find
Government has been urged to ensure the equitable distribution of the benefits that would be accrued from the country’s oil find and to train more competent Ghanaians as workforce for the oil companies that are operating in the country.
“I will urge government not to politicise the oil find in the country but rather bring all on board for equitable distribution and satisfaction,” said Dr Daniel Ganu, Acting Vice President for Academic Administration, Valley View University.
Dr Ganu who made this known on Wednesday during the Corporate Day celebration organised by the University’s School of Business, also appealed to government to avoid instances whereby the nation’s oil discoveries could become a ‘curse’.
He was full of praise to God for making Ghana one of the few countries on the continent blessed with oil and expressed his gratitude to all who worked to make oil exploration in the country possible.
Mr Kwesi Eyiah, Chief Accountant of Ghana National Petroleum Company (GNPC), cited the lack of inadequate infrastructure, unavailability of skilled manpower, and the inability of local industries to respond to industrial needs, as some of the challenges plaguing the oil industry in the country.
“We are also battling with the inability of government institutions to respond to industrial needs”, he added.
He noted that the oil sector required a high level of risk, technical and financial resources, complex technology, long-term span before returns on investment, and specialised accounting rules for its effective operations.
Mr Eyiah said the GNPC since its establishment in 1983 had been the body mandated to look into all issues relating to the oil sector in the country.
He mentioned medical supply, legal and taxation services, petroleum trading and all other offshore supports as some of the opportunities in the oil sector that students interested in the oil industry could take advantage of.
He expressed his disappointment about the inability of tertiary institutions to provide some specialised fields of study in the oil industry.
“This issue has culminated in some oil companies sending people to other countries to go and acquire the needed skills,” he said.
He expressed the GNPC’s willingness to assist any tertiary institution interested in introducing courses pertaining to the oil industry.
He mentioned the West and Central Tano, Saltpond, Jubilee Fields, North and South Tano, West Cape Three Points, Tweneboa, Odum and Owo as some of the oil fields discovered in the country.
Mr David Azupio, Mechanical Engineer in charge of Transport, Tema Oil Refinery, appealed to the Government to set up an independent body devoid of politics to oversee all affairs relating to the oil find in the country.
Source: GNA