Ghana’s oil and gas trade mission opens in Aberdeen

The Petroleum Commission, Ghana has at the ongoing Oil and Gas Trade Mission in Aberdeen outlined hung business opportunities in the country’s upstream sector, which require partnerships.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Chief Executive Officer of the PC, Mr. Egbert Faibille Jnr., said in the very fast emerging industry, there are opportunities in front end engineering design, detailed and other engineering designs, fabrication and construction.

Opportunities
He also identified other areas of business as in materials and procurement, well drilling services, exploration, subsurface, petroleum engineering and seismic services, supply and disposal services, information communication technology (ICT), marine operations as well as logistic services.

In Ghana “our companies need partners to be able to meet the standards of the operators of our current production fields and others yet to come on stream,” he said.

The CEO told the Scottish companies gathered at the conference with the requisite capacities to partner Ghana’s companies not to hesitate to pitch and win such contracts.

The forum is attended by the Scottish Development International, Aberdeen-Grampian Chamber of Commerce and the Ghana UK-Ghana Chamber of Commerce as well Ghanaian businesses to meet more than 50 companies from Ghana to the city of Aberdeen.

With rich experience in the upstream oil and gas in Europe he said Ghanaian companies attending the conference and those in Ghana are ready for business.

Cost efficient petroleum activities
The trade mission, he said, aside the regulator of the upstream sector, section 3(a) of the Petroleum Commission Act, 2011; Act 821 enjoins the Commission to inter alia “promote planned, well executed, sustainable and cost efficient petroleum activities to achieve optimal levels of exploitation for the overall benefit and welfare of citizens” of Ghana.

The commission is also set to promote, regulate and manage the efficient conduct of upstream petroleum operations and all allied activities and the utilization of petroleum resources on a sustainable basis for the overall benefit of the citizens of the country.


“Therefore, our being an integral part of the first ever Oil and Gas Trade Mission to Aberdeen is thus in furtherance of one of our core mandates,” he said.

300 Indigenous Ghanaian
Aside few participants, the CEO said on the records of PC, there are more 300 indigenous Ghanaian companies registered to operate in Ghana’s upstream sector where currently three independent fields are into production with more fields waiting to come on stream.

He therefore urged the companies to partner with indigenous Ghanaian companies in the provision of support services to the upstream sector of the country oil and gas industry.

“At present we have notable companies such as Tullow Oil, Kosmos Energy Ghana, Anadarko and ENI among others already doing good business in Ghana producing alongside our national oil company, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).

Trusted business destination
He said the country’s touted trusted as business destination was consolidated by entry by ExxonMobil, which is to be ratified by our Parliament.

“The developments in Ghana’s upstream sector mean business and services are available from acquisition of seismic data, through exploration, development and production to transportation, treatment and storage as well as HSE opportunities exist for Scottish companies to partner indigenous Ghanaian companies to further develop Ghana’s upstream sector and to make money,” he said.

Aker entry
In recent times, he said Aker, another giant in the industry has also obtained the required approval of the Minister of Energy of Ghana and is entering its upstream space. “That is another opportunity that beckons for strategic joint ventures between Scottish and indigenous Ghanaian companies. I urge you to strike deals to be able to benefit from that enterprise.”

The Deputy Minister for Energy in charge of Petroleum, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam noted that the improving global market and economic conditions including expected level and trend of oil and gas prices are beginning to shape investors’ exploration strategies and attitude towards risk in a positive manner.

“Ghana is particularly favored by the resolution of the Maritime Boundary dispute with Ivory Coast, the entry of global majors such as ExxonMobil within its space, as well as the new production and exploration Act that provides for a more transparent system of rights allocation.

These factors coupled with the geological prospects of country’s basins, Dr. Amin said, creates a strong opportunity for accelerating exploration activities to arrest the potential decline of production rates and also restore reserve replacement ratios to acceptable levels.

Various representatives of chambers from both Aberdeen and Ghana expressed their commitment to ensuring healthy trade relations.

The businesses expressed the hope that after the inter-business session a lot of business relations would be firmed up to explore the opportunities.