150 Graduates to undergo training in oil and gas
One hundred and fifty graduates, including 20 females, from diverse technical fields are to undergo technical skills training in oil and gas in furtherance of the government’s accelerated oil and gas capacity (AOGC) programme.
The programme, which is spearheaded by the Petroleum Commission (PC), aims to develop requisite technical skills for Ghana’s upstream oil and gas and other extractive industries, including serving as a major boost for a draft localisation policy.
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The beneficiaries will be trained at the Takoradi Technical University (TTU) at an estimated cost of $1 million.
The AOGC programme was established in 2017 to enhance local capacity to access opportunities in the oil sector.
Orientation
At an orientation session for the beneficiaries, the Chief Executive Officer of the PC, Mr Egbert Faibille Jnr, said at the end of the six-month training, the beneficiaries would be presented with internationally recognised City and Guilds certificates.
Among areas of specialisation are processing, mechanical, instrumentation and electricals.
According to the CEO, “the beneficiaries, on completion, will be able to understudy expatriates who are currently in the upstream industry. Over a period, they will be able to take over from the expatriates after gaining practical experience”.
“The project is highly sustainable — the technology and the training transfer fees under the petroleum agreements are at hand, and when more funds flow in, and with support from industry, we will train more.
“Currently, we are talking about $1 million for the training, an estimated cost of $7,500 per trainee, as well as costs of other training logistics, such as accommodation, stipend for trainees and charges by the TTU for the use of its facility,” he added.
Mr Faibille said an additional 50 graduates would be trained next year, saying that “after next year about 200 Ghanaian technicians will be industry-ready”.
Significance
The Manager of the AOGC programme at the PC, Mr Mustapha Hameed, said the flagship programme for the oil industry would address the critical skills deficit in the country.
He said as part of the benefits of the training, “we will create a database to enable the commission to connect the beneficiaries to job roles in the oil and gas industry when they become available”.
Already, five young Ghanaians have undergone training in offshore (undersea) stainless steel welding at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Canada.
For his part, the Centre Manager of the Jubilee Technical Training Centre (JTTC), Prof. John Bentil, said the TTU was ready to take up the challenge of providing a perfect ambiance for upscaling the knowledge and skills of the next generation of technicians to drive the country's growing oil and gas industry.
