Onshore exploration must be a preserve of Ghanaians - Kwame Jantuah
The Vice Chairman of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), Mr Kwame Jantuah, has asked Ghanaians to build their capacity to be at the forefront of the onshore exploration of oil in the Voltaian Basin.
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Onshore exploration, he said, should be the launchpad for Ghanaians to get to play a key role in the oil industry, unlike offshore exploration where it was largely dominated by foreign companies.
In an interview on August 4, Mr Jantuah said the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) must play the lead role, while the other local companies are allowed to also play their part.
“Onshore is a good place to start building the capacity of Ghanaians to take over the oil industry going forward. They can even bring in foreign participation but that should be limited. Ghanaians should take the lead and not the other way around.”
“You do not need the amount of money needed for offshore for onshore exploration. It can be affordable in terms of Ghanaians coming together and setting up a company.” he said.
Mr Jantuah explained that it was time to step up efforts to build the capacity of the local players to take part in oil exploration as the lack of capacity continued to be a hindrance to the local content drive in the industry.
“We cannot say that we do not have capacity so we will not start; we have to start from somewhere. If we are going to build the capacity of Ghanaians to take over the oil industry, it is only ourselves who can do that and we have to start from somewhere.”
“The onus doesn’t only lie on the GNPC; it lies on us as Ghanaians. Ghanaians should be interested in taking charge of getting to learn what the oil industry is all about,” he said.
Onshore exploration
The country is expected to start oil exploration in the Keta Basin which forms part of the larger Voltaian Basin. The Voltaian Basin includes onshore areas stretching up to the northern parts of the country. The Keta Delta block is estimated to cover an area of 3,000 square kilometres.
Already, the GNPC has started conducting seismic studies on the basin which was discovered to have about 48 wells. The seismic studies is to help the GNPC explore and better understand the basin and its potential for development ahead of the start of onshore oil and gas exploration in the Keta Basin of the Volta Region.
Managing expectations
The Municipal Chief Executive of the Keta Municipal Assembly, Mr Seth Yormewu said ahead of the start of onshore exploration in the region, there were concerted efforts to manage the expectations of indigenes about the potential of oil and its impact on development in the region.
“Our community people are expectant of the oil exploration at Keta. We are trying to talk to them through education to know that more or less it will not be the way we are expecting it so that at the end when oil comes, we can manage our expectations,” he said.
He also appealed to lawmakers to consider reviewing the arrangement for the disbursement of oil proceeds so that the regions where the oil is explored could benefit more.
“We want to make an appeal to our parliamentarians to readjust the percentage for sharing the revenue so that the region which is producing the oil will benefit more,” he said.