Employ more Ghanaians from local communities – Bawumia to oil firms

Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has asked companies within the oil and gas sector to employ more local people in the communities they operate.

According to him, oil and gas companies in the Western Region, must first consider people from the region before bringing labour from elsewhere.

Speaking at this year’s Kundum festival in the Western Region, Dr. Bawumia stressed the need for local people to be given opportunities.

“How can we expect them to be part of the oil and gas industry that is developing around it? Oil and gas companies will bring workers from abroad to do the work.”

“These companies should be conscious to improve the quality of life of the people to become social partners with the government in development,” he said.

What the local content law says

The Ghana Local Content and Local Participation Bill 2013, was passed in November 2013 stating that Ghanaians should be prioritized in terms of employment in the petroleum industry, and should benefit from the country’s resources.

The law is expected to ensure that Ghana’s natural resources benefit Ghanaians, while also allowing foreign oil companies to reap fair returns on their investment.

It also seeks to promote the maximization of value-addition and job creation through the use of local expertise, goods and services, business and financing in the petroleum industry value chain, and their retention in the country; develop local capacities in the petroleum industry value chain through education, skills transfer and expertise development, transfer of technology and know-how , and active research and development programmes.

The bidding process for oil blocks must be transparent – Nana Addo

President Nana Addo Akufo-Addo has charged the Ministry of Energy, the Petroleum Commission, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and the Licensing Rounds Committee to co-operate and ensure that activities under the first oil and gas licensing round are transparent.

President Akufo-Addo noted that the 2016 manifesto of the New Patriotic Party pledged to “improve transparency in the management of our oil and gas resources”.

He indicated that with the last oil discovery, and the last exploration well drilled in 2014, it has meant that the pace of oil exploration has slowed considerably in the country.

“Given that production is taking place at a faster rate than reserves are being added, we need to reverse this state of affairs immediately, especially in today’s oil market environment, where crude oil prices are in the US$70 – US$80 per barrel range,” he said