Young engineers tour Ghana Gas plant
Fourteen young engineers, currently undergoing a 10-month training programme in upstream oil and gas industry, have visited the Ghana National Gas Company (Ghana Gas) to acquaint themselves with their operations.
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The students, who are also focused on the health, safety environmental practices, among others, were taken through Ghana Gas’ operations at Atuabo in the Western Region.
The Ghanaian natural gas processor operates with 100 per cent local management teams.
The training by Draper Oil and Gas, in collaboration with Siemens Oil and Gas, is to equip the engineers with the needed skills and technical know-how of the oil and gas industry.
Welcome
Officials of Ghana Gas welcomed the collaboration between training institutions and industry which, they said, would complement and actualise what the students had learnt in the lecture theatres.
The Utility and Supervisor of Ghana Gas, Mr Michael Kwabena Mireku, took the students through the history and mandate of the company.
He said deliberate and committed efforts to actualise the dream of harnessing associated and non-associated gas had propelled Ghana Gas to work hard to ensure that the Western Corridor Gas Infrastructural project was delivered on time.
The students were also taken through the various stages of the operation where Mr Mireku explained how the offshore pipeline from the projection platforms offshore were linked to the plant and the 111-kilometre onshore gas pipeline that delivers gas to thermal units at Aboadze.
First phase
The Atuabo Gas Processing Plant, which is the first phase of the Western Corridor Gas Project, he explained, had the capacity of 150 million standard cubic feet (mscf) of gas “but we’re doing 120 million mscf daily’’.
Aside from providing the natural gas for powering the country’s thermal units, Mr Mireku explained that other products derived from the plant include liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as well as condensate for domestic and power generation, respectively.
Training manager
The Project Manager of the Training Programme, Mr Gyimah Subeiro, said the trainees with knowledge in chemical, electrical and mechanical engineering, were carefully selected from tertiary institutions across the country.
He said it was expected that the engineers would be assigned to Siemens Oil and Gas, which was currently doing some work for the Sankofa Project on the installation of gas compressor for the additional gas coming onshore.
“Draper has a joint venture with Siemens to provide the compressor package and operations maintenance activities that will go a long way with it on the project,” he said.
Some of the students who expressed their views said regular interactions with industry would help them to familiarise themselves with the actual work environment before they were assigned.