‘Oil revenue must be properly managed’

THE country’s anticipated revenue from oil for its development agenda can be jeopardised if the sector is not properly managed, some potential investors have cautioned.
They say if Ghana is not careful, anticipated revenue from the sector which is in its semi-foundation stage, may be misappropriated, as has happened in some West African countries, and will dash the hopes of Ghanaians who may be hoping for higher living standards as a result of the oil find.
The investors most of whom were members of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce-Ghana (CCC-G) expressed this caution at a meeting in Accra.
Mr Gabriel Osatey, the Chief Geophysicist of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), who addressed the meeting on the theme, “Positioning Oneself to Benefit From Ghana’s Oil/Gas Industry”, urged Ghanaians to embrace the challenges in the sector and position themselves to take advantage of opportunities as the industry spearheads infrastructural and technological advancement in Ghana.
“The infrastructural set-ups in the oil/gas industry and the country as a whole require high skilled labour”, he stated and indicated that the country’s oil find could be beneficial to Ghanaians only if the resource was well protected and the revenue utilised judiciously.
“There will be the need for skilled local labour in areas such as welding and working on rigs”, he stated, pointing out that as enshrined in the petroleum agreements with investors, Ghanaians would be trained to fit into as many of the jobs to be generated as possible.
Mr Osatey named some of the current challenges as unpredictable development costs due to rapid fluctuation of oil prices, inadequate port facilities at the main operational base in Takoradi to handle heavy equipment and materials for oilfield operations and minimal airline services between Accra and Takoradi to facilitate fast mobility of personnel.
He identified other constraints as the non-existence of a civilian airbase in Takoradi to handle extended oilfield operations, tight rig market around the world, with few service companies in Ghana to facilitate work.
For phase one of the Jubilee field development, he said the field would be developed in phases, with the first volume of oil to be produced by the fourth quarter of 2010, and the full phase development expected to be executed by the end of 2012.
“For this phase, about 17 wells will be drilled in all, with eight gas/water injection wells and nine production wells, to produce about 120,000 barrels of oil daily.
Considering the outlook and prospects for Ghana in the utilisation of its gas, Mr Osatey cited the development of a gas infrastructure both onshore and offshore which would be given high priority independent of the Jubilee field development.
On the utilisation of the country’s oil for national industrial and human resource developments, he said the oil industry could generate a host of other industries and therefore urged Ghanaians to position themselves to partner with service companies in the provision of oilfield-related services.
In the area of industrial and infrastructural development, he said the Takoradi port was being expanded and positioned to cater for the oil and other industries in the western part of the country.
An alternative, he added, was to build a dedicated quay west of Takoradi for oil operations in order to take the anticipated pressure off the Sekondi Naval Base and a private initiative aerodrome to cater for air and helicopter services in Takoradi for hydrocarbon operations.
That, he noted, would minimise the anticipated air travel-related pressures at the Takoradi Air Force Base.
Other sectors of the economy that need to be boosted, Mr Osatey said, would include the construction of roads and railways for transportation of goods and services, the expansion of medical facilities and medical schools and the development of estates and hotels.
Aside from these there would be the need for the expansion and establishment of engineering and technical institutes, as well as the training of personnel in the service industries to meet the challenges of the oil future of Ghana.