The acting National Petroleum Commission CEO, Egbert Faibille, has entreated Oil and Gas companies in Ghana to priorities Ghanaians first when it comes to job placement before resorting to expats.

According to him, the law is unambiguous when it comes to placing premium on Ghanaians while employing in the Oil and Gas sectors.

Mr. Faibille stressed companies who are reserving specific positions for expats without recourse to Ghanaians are flouting the law and must not be entertained anymore.

He noted in situations where no Ghanaian residing in the country fits the position, the company in question is required to scour around the world for a competent Ghanaian.

“Hire competent Ghanaians from the diaspora,” Mr. Faibille emphasised.

“The only workforce which must be employed outside Ghana are those whose skills can’t be found here in Ghana.

“When you want to bring in an expat you have to apply to the Commission and prove that no Ghanaian is able to play that role. If it can’t be proven we’ll turn down the application,” Mr. Faibille pointed out at the Oil and Gas, Local Content conference in Takoradi.

Meanwhile, he has been accusing some multinationals in Ghana’s oil space of milking the nation through transfer pricing.

A transfer price is the price at which divisions of a company transact with each other, such as the trade of supplies or labor between departments. Transfer prices are used when individual entities of a larger multi-entity firm are treated and measured as separately run entities.

Mr. Faibille alleged many of the companies with joint venture arrangements are culpable, but failed to give names.

“The Commission is fully aware that most companies in Joint Venture (JV) arrangements are engaged in Transfer Pricing in order to always ensure that the JV companies do not declare profit to be shared with their local partners,” Mr. Faibille said.

He added: “This practice must stop and we are working with the Ghana Revenue Authority to bring sanity in the conduct of financial transaction in the industry. The era of transfer pricing must stop.”