By Liberty Amewode An elaborate programme to build confidence in Ghanaians about their ability to take over the oil industry within the next decade has been hatched by the Ghana chapter of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).

It involves a nation-wide educational tour of some selected Senior High Schools, aimed at arousing interest in the industry among students, and introducing them to the discipline of petroleum, geology and environmental engineering.

According to the Chairperson of the SPE Ghana Chapter, Albert Kweku Longdon-Nyewan, the knowledge and technology transfer which must precede the achievement of the projected 90 per cent local content in the oil industry by 2020 requires an elaborate programme that should see many young men and women building capacity in order to function in the scheme of affairs.

“Ghanaians need to believe, and have confidence, in themselves in order to make achievable the targeted 90 per cent local content in the oil industry by 2020”, he said.

In an exclusive interview with The Business Analyst last Friday, he said the Ghanaian government’s vision for the oil and gas industry, which is to promote the development of human resources as a means for socio-economic development, needed all stakeholders on board to realize.

He believes the goal of achieving local participation of at least 90 per cent in all aspects of the oil and gas value chain by 2020 is achievable. Mr. Longdon-Nyewan granted the interview after deliberations with other section officers of the SPE, where programmes scheduled for the Society were extensively discussed.

According to him, the SPE will hold lectures and workshops to provide practical information on the latest applications of relevant technology in the oil and gas industry illustrated with field case studies and examples.

Other programmes, he said, include a career workshop that will help to define and take steps towards ensuring the future supply of quality workforce in the petroleum industry, and a community outreach programme to sensitize selected communities concerning the petroleum industry, energy education, charitable causes and community action projects.

An Education Day Summit, christened ‘Catch Them Young’, the SPE chairperson indicated, will begin from October 25th this year which would introduce Senior High School students to the discipline of petroleum, geology and environmental engineering.

“Young industry professionals will be invited to share their experience with students and deliver talks on topics of general interest and relevance to the industry”, he added.

The Society of Petroleum Engineers Ghana Section 197, is an Integral part of SPE INTERNATIONAL, a global organization that promotes technology dissemination in the upstream oil and gas industry. The Section was established on September 19, 2010 and is registered with the Registrar General’s Department of Ghana. It has six student chapters on the campuses of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, the University of Ghana, University of Mines and Technology, Ghana Oil Drilling Academy and Consultancy, the Regional Maritime University and All Nations University.

According to Mr. Longdon-Nyewan, a what-do-you-know style student competition, called the ‘Petrobowl GH Competition’ will be organized to bring together top students from these institutions to engage them in a contest where their knowledge will be tested.

Also scheduled within the year under review is an Oil and Gas Fun Games, which he said will involve athletic and non-athletic events.

On membership, the Section Chairperson said although engineers and technicians are the core of SPE’s membership, not all members are engineers, adding that solving the industry’s challenges requires a multidisciplinary effort, and SPE is a place for all of today’s industry professionals, regardless of experience or course of study.

“Facilities, management, information technology, environmental and safety issues are all part of the resources needed to expand and deliver the supply of oil and natural gas the world needs, and all who work in these areas will find home with SPE”, he said. thebusinessanalystgh@gmail.com