Kumasi, Feb 9, GNA - A three-day workshop, aimed at building the capacity and skills of professionals and stakeholders in the oil and gas industry, opened at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi on Tuesday.

AFREN, a United Kingdom (UK)-based oil exploration Company, and the College of Engineering of KNUST are jointly sponsoring the event. The participants are discussing "formation of oil and gas", "drilling", "transportation", "refining" and "marketing" among other topics. Professor Kwasi Kwafo Adarkwa, Vice-Chancellor of the University, said the workshop would help local professionals in the oil industry to become well-positioned for the exploitation of Ghana's oil.

He said there was the need to train the country's technocrats and scientists and that Ghanaians should be assisted to acquire the requisite knowledge and expertise for the management of its oil industry. Prof. Adarkwa called for the development of an oil and gas industrialization plan that would provide a model for managing the nation's petroleum resources in a more sustainable manner.

He said this would make the discovery of oil a blessing for the adding that government should ensure that revenue to be accrued from oil and gas was used to boost the manufacturing and agricultural sectors for economic diversification, job creation and development of the private sector. Dr. Stephen Donyina, a Chemical Engineer, said an effective environmental management framework needed to be put in place to prevent and mitigate environme ntal and social risks that comes with the exploration of oil. The framework, he said, should make provision for fishermen, local farmers and people that would be most affected by the exploration of oil. Mr. Marc-Andre Wulfrath, a Consultant to AFREN, urged the participants to take the workshop seriously to enhance their career development and open job opportunities for them. 9 Feb. 10