The value of contracts for services, awarded to Ghanaians in the oil sector, amounts to US$1.6 billion out of a total of US$6.3 billion, 10 years into commercial production at the Jubilee fields with additional production from the Offshore Cape Three Points, (OCTP).
Less than US$400million worth of contracts went to Ghanaian indigenous companies when the country began its first commercial oil production following the Jubilee development.
Out of the 776 companies registered with the Petroleum Commission to provide direct or indirect services in the sector, 480 of them are fully indigenous, however their worth is very low.
Five years into production, local Ghanaian participation in the oil sector was largely limited to only catering, security and logistics.
But the Petroleum Commission says the situation has changed and much success has been chalked under the Local Content Act, 2013, (Act 2204) as indigenous companies are now providing more services in the oil sector.
Speaking to Goldstreet Business on the sidelines of the Canada Ghana Chamber of Commerce Power Breakfast Meeting on the theme “Promoting Joint Venture Partnerships with Foreign Investors”, Director of Special Services at the Petroleum Commission, Kwaku Boateng disclosed that the value and scope of contracts that are being undertaken by Ghanaian companies have gone up significantly as a result of joint venture partnerships between local companies and foreign counterparts.
He said “Ghanaian companies through joint venture arrangements are now establishing fabrication plants and, through that, we have a lot of contracts going to Ghanaian companies.
“There are certain basic services like pipeline trending that are being performed by indigenous companies and they learnt those skills by partnering with these foreign companies,” Boateng said.
The Commission has however identified a lack of quality standards, limited capacities of local companies to deliver services, insufficient financing opportunities for local companies, lack of understanding of the oil and gas industries, as well as inadequate certifications and labor unrest as some of the challenges indigenous companies are facing in the sector.
Boateng revealed that the Commission is set to develop the capacities of local industries to enable them operate favorably in the sector.
“We have been trying to address that problem for the past three to four years. Government has established an enterprise development centre at Takoradi to provide business and technical skills to SMEs operating in the industry,” he added.
He urged other local companies that want to enter the sector to seek the training and information from the center.