Aker Energy has committed to support Ghana’s Accelerated Oil and Gas Capacity (AOGC) initiative with an amount of $4.5 million, Mr Jan Arve Haugen, Chief Executive Officer of Aker Energy has announced in Stavanger, Norway.

He said that amount would be part of its contribution towards the development of Ghana’s oil industry, particularly on its local content policy, as Aker stepped into the country to start operations on its newly acquired offshore oil block in the Deepwater Tano Cape Three Points (DWTCTP).

He said as soon as Aker Energy got a feedback from the Government of Ghana, it would go ahead and release the fund to the country, saying that Aker had already communicated its support proposal to the Ghanaian authorities, led by Mr Joseph Cudjoe, Deputy Minister of Energy, and Mr Egbert Faibille, Chief Executive Officer of National Petroleum Commission, Ghana, who led 40 indigenous companies on a trade mission to Norway.

The AOGC, a new capacity development programme, which is aimed at empowering Ghanaians and Ghanaian companies with the requisite skills for them to actively participate in Ghana’s oil and gas sector was launched last November by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

The Programme had been conceived, and combined different capacity building initiatives as well as new initiatives, to meet the demands of the oil and gas industry.

It is categorised in four thematic areas namely: Technical, Vocational, Apprenticeship Development and Utilisation; Capacity Development of Educational Institutions; SME Capacity Building; and Public Institutional Development and Sector Management.

The Government had said that through AOGC, it was determined to expand opportunities in the oil and gas industry, and use it as a catalyst for the rapid transformation of the country.

The Ministry of Energy had already laid out a plan under the AOGC Programme to train 1,000 Ghanaians annually to gain various technical skills.

Additionally, 200 Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) would be provided with the capacity to gain a competitive advantage in the industry annually, while 300 employees of public institutions would be adequately prepared to support the development of oil and gas policies, and enforce industry regulations.

Speaking to journalists on the side-line of a Ghana Day event, held as part of the just ended Offshore North Sea conference and exhibition held in Stavanger, Norway, Mr Arve said Aker had already started with the training and the provision of skills to some local Ghanaian people, including 25 people who were currently being trained in various skills development.

He said his company was also much interested in vocational training which the Regional Maritime University in Ghana was providing, adding that his visit to that University in March this year, revealed that the institution was providing a good solution to the needs of the industry.

He said the company was also exploring opportunities in Takoradi, site of its assets, and on September 5, Aker Energy would roll out a comprehensive corporate social responsibility programme for the indigenes of its area of operations.

He however gave the assurance that Aker personnel had the competence and the capacity to help develop Ghana’s oil sector in a very efficient and safe manner.

“There is no way that we will in a way give up on any of the requirement and we will also bring the competence and the background and the insight from the Norwegian industry into Ghana, and we are very proud to be the ambassadors of Norway in Ghana”, Mr Huagen noted.

The Ghana day event was organised to enable the Ghanaian local firms that were part of the trade mission to interact and pitch with their Norwegian counterparts.

It was addressed by speakers including, Mr Cudjoe, Mr Faibille, Mr Lawrence Apaalse, Chief Director of the Energy Ministry, Ms Alice Tokornoo, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, Dr Kwame Baah-Nuakoh, Head of Sustainability, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Mr Huagen as well as representatives of the various Ghanaian firms that attended the mission.

The event allowed the Ghanaian companies to pitch with their Norwegian counterparts and build business partnerships that would help them grow their businesses and in the Ghanaian sector.

A total of 68,174 visitors and business people from 98 countries visited ONS 2018 which run from Monday August 27 to Thursday August 30, with 1,124 companies from 37 countries that exhibited their exhibits,

There were 3, 635 delegates that attended the Conference that additionally, gathered more than 90 top leaders of governments, corporations and academia from 23 countries.