Some 1500 jobs created in oil and gas sector, 57% Ghanaians – Minister

Available records indicate that about 1500 jobs have been created in the oil and gas sector and out of this number, about 840, representing about 57 per cent are Ghanaians.

The exact number of people from the Western region employed in the sector is not known as the information gathering instruments do not make provision for regional considerations,  Mr Inusah Fuseini, Deputy Energy Minister disclosed in Parliament on Tuesday.

He was responding to a question on the floor of the House on the percentage of people from the Western region employed in the oil and gas sector.

Mr Fuseini said the Energy Ministry, in recognition that exploitation of oil and gas resources is located in the region, has put in specific interventions in the area to address some of these challenges.

He said the Ministry in collaboration with Tullow Ghana is establishing an SME Skill Development Centre in Takoradi and also allocated 40 per cent of annual scholarships initiated by Tullow to train Ghanaians in UK Universities in areas of gas and oil to the Western region.

Government, he said, is implementing a western corridor infrastructure development that will be funded by a loan, including the enactment of a local content and local participation regulations to safeguard the interest of communities affected directly by the oil and gas activities and the opening of an operational office for the Petroleum Commission in Takoradi, the deputy Minister added.

“The oil and gas capacity building project being implemented by the Ministry in partnership with development partners have strengthened institutions of learning and capacity building such as KNUST, Council for Technical and Vocational, Education and Training, Takoradi Technical Institute and Regional Maritime University,” he said.

By Eunice Menka