Local content conference held in Takoradi

A Local content conference and exhibition has been organised in Takoradi with a commitment from the Petroleum Commission to whip up investor interest in the country’s upstream oil and gas sector for growth.

The industry regulator said recent changes in the global investment climate underpinned by energy transition and climate change action has had an adverse impact on the upstream oil and gas industry globally but that there was hope.

Speaking at the event in Sekondi in the Western Region last Tuesday, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the commission, Egbert Faibille Jnr, said his outfit was working to attract more investors and also increase exploration and production activities.

The three-day conference was under the theme: “Attracting exploration and production investment to boost local content – New pathways.”

Participants included captains in the oil and gas industry, industry service companies, trade associations, as well as the financial sector.

Increase production

Mr Faibille Jnr also said there was a compelling need to accelerate the exploration of the country’s hydrocarbons to avert stranded resources, and to replace reserves to sustain and increase production.

The CEO expressed worry that if the country failed to attract and retain E&P investments to its upstream sector, local content could stagnate.

He said since the country commenced commercial production of oil, a total of about 753 million barrels of oil equivalent had been realised as of the end of August, 2024.

The CEO said there were still about 2.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent to be produced. “This consists of approximately 970 million barrels of oil equivalent yet to be produced from the existing producing fields, as well as the recently approved Pecan Field, and an estimated contingent reserves of 1.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent,” he said.

He said since the commercial discovery of oil in the Jubilee Field in 2007, the industry had rapidly evolved, attracting major international oil companies and fostering local enterprises with enviable stability records. 

Shift in investment

Mr Faibille Jnr also said that there was an apparent systematic shift of investments from upstream oil and gas to renewable energy, saying “debt funding sources have dwindled over time with many western financial institutions shifting entirely away from funding fossil fuel projects.”

“Globally, we are witnessing a shift in the energy landscape, away from fossil fuels and towards less-polluting sources of energy.

“In Africa, however, a closer look reveals a different picture. On the one hand, there is an expansion in energy generation from renewables,” he said.

On the other hand, the CEO said, there had been an increase in upstream oil and gas investments in Africa.

“However, recently, it has become common for industry players in Ghana to lament a perceived shift of investments away from the country to other African nations with claims that Ghana’s investment environment is not attractive enough.”

Mr Faibille Jnr said while appreciating the concerns of industry players “it must, however, be noted that since 2004, there has been a wave of oil and gas discoveries in many countries in Africa, including Ghana”.
 

E&P investment 

In its quest to attract new E&P investments, the commission said it was ensuring prudent resource management considerations, resource nationalism and national interests, as well as investor protection, among others.

He said there was the need to ensure that “we attract and retain E&P companies that have the required financial muscle and technical capacity or the ability to raise adequate funding to be granted E&P rights.”

The CEO further said that the commission and the Ministry of Energy remained committed and open to receiving applications for acreages in the Accra-Keta Basin.

For his part, the Chairman of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Felix O. Ogbe, called for collaboration among African oil and gas service companies to leverage capabilities and capabilities to develop African local content and also meet the aspirations of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).