Oil industry gets major boost,as GODAC gets USA partners

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is supporting a leading oil and gas drilling and well services technology training institution in the country to offer opportunities to young Ghanaians for training in oil drilling and well services technology, thus preparing them to fully participate in the emerging oil industry.

“Our mission is to provide our students, mostly Ghanaians with high quality state-of-the art training in oil drilling and related disciplines to enable them to participate fully at all levels in the upcoming oil industry,” said Mr. Prince Frimpong Donkor, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Oil Drilling Academy & Consultancy (GODAC) – the partnering institution in Accra when a five-member delegation from the Centre of Energy Economics, University of Texas (CEE-UT) and some international and local partners paid a working visit to GODAC.

The institution was chosen after an assessment by the team led by Dr. Michelle Foss, Head and Chief Energy Economist (CEE-UT); Dr. Gürcan Gülen, Senior Energy Economist (CEE-UT); Mr. Greg McCormack, Director, Petroleum Extension Programme of UT (PETEX); Dr. Bhamy Shenoy, industry consultant and senior advisor to CEE-UT; and Ms. Susan Reider, Terra Group after a request from the government for a bilateral assistance from the USAID Ghana Mission.

USAID then engaged the Centre of Energy Economics, University of Texas (CEE-UT) and its team of international and local partners to assess the needs of the oil and gas sector in Ghana, especially in the areas of technical assistance and workforce development.

The main objectives of the Ghanaian oil and gas sector needs assessment are two-fold - to analyse the key existing and future energy sector issues in Ghana, especially those relevant to the development of the hydrocarbon and gas-to-power sectors; and also develop a sector programme strategy for United States Government (USG) assistance to the government including fostering collaboration with other international development partners and donors engaged in the sector.

“Working in the oil industry is a demanding job, and offshore personnel need training that prioritises quality, safety and high level of technical skill,” Mr. Donkor explained

He assured that the Academy’s highly qualified instructors who have worked in different positions on the drilling platform and have extensive experience in both exploration drilling, moveable rigs, and production drilling on fixed offshore installations would train interested students

This implies that GODAC student are taught by instructors with extensive experience in the oil industry, Mr. Donkor said.

Mr. Donkor further explained that GODAC programmes and courses have been accredited by the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC), International Well Control Forum, Norwegian Oil Industry Association, Indian Drilling Association, National Accreditation Board Ghana and ISO 9000:2001.

The GODAC, he said, has received several enquiries from other oil-producing countries in the West Africa sub-region, such as Gabon, Nigeria, Angola, Uganda, Ivory Coast, Congo Brazzaville, Cameroon and Sierra Leone, for training in Ghana.

He called for adequate and transparent management of the country’s oil resources to avoid it being a curse on the indigenes.

Michelle Michot Foss, Chief Energy Economist and Head of Centre for Energy Economics, observed that most African countries lack professional training institutions and have resorted to the employment of low standard personnel. This impedes promotion of the indigenous working force to higher ranks on the rigs.

Dr. Bhamy Shengoy expressed his appreciation of GODAC’s approach to training, and vision of equipping Ghanaians with the necessary skills to be able to operate at higher positions on oil drilling rigs worldwide.