5 To benefit from accelerated oil, gas capacity programme
Five young Ghanaians have been selected under an Accelerated Oil and Gas Capacity (AOGC) programme to undergo training in offshore (undersea) stainless steel welding at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Canada.
At the end of the one-year training, they will be awarded international certificates by the American Welding Society, the Canadian Welding Bureaus, the National Association of Corrosion Engineers and the American Society of Non-Destructing Testing.
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The beneficiaries are James Bewiekah and Michael Atobrah of the Kikam Technical Institute; Bright Oduro and Joseph Ghunney of the Takoradi Technical University and a Public Relations graduate of the University of Ghana, who is currently learning welding at the Suame Magazine, Abdul Rahman.
They are expected to leave the country on July 15, 2019.
Commendation
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo commended the Petroleum Commission, the Ministry of Energy and the sponsors for ensuring that the AOGC programme, which was launched last year, was yielding the needed results.
The President, who made the commendation at the Jubilee House in Accra last Wednesday, said the future of the country was bright, with the support of the private sector.
He advised the beneficiaries to take their studies seriously and raise high the flag of Ghana in Canada to become good role models for Ghanaian youth.
He expressed appreciation to Baker Hughes/General Electric, the company sponsoring the young men with $250,000, for supporting the agenda of the government to empower the people of Ghana to play active and lead roles in the oil and gas production industry.
Petroleum Commission
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Petroleum Commission, Mr Egbert Faibille Jnr, said since the launch of the AOGC, it was the first time it had got such a sponsorship.
He said the commission collaborated with the Energy Ministry to fashion out the AOGC programme but that the issue had been lack of funding until they reached out to the Managing Director of Baker Hughes/General Electric, Madam Dickson Ogogo, who decided to provide the $250,000 facility.
He said after the training programme, the beneficiaries would come back to train indigenous Ghanaians, while the government also interfaced with the Canadian training institute to provide prototypes of some of the tools for the training of more artisans in Ghana.
He explained that the training in Ghana would last 18 months, after which the trainees would be sent to Canada to get the international certification.
According to Mr Faibille, the commission had been receiving applications from international oil companies, as well as service companies, asking for work permits for expatriate welders to come to Ghana to work, and said it was for that reason that it wanted to get Ghanaians trained in that area.
“We believe the time is now to train more Ghanaians for the low-lying jobs in the industry.
This is a fundamental step being taken to ensure that in the next 20 years Ghanaians will be in charge of the brick and mortar aspects of the oil industry,” he added.