Oil industry and matters arising…

Ghana will become one of the world’s top fifty oil producers when the country begins to pump crude oil from the Jubilee field at the tail-end of the year.
With this new-found resource, expectations are high with officials hoping the field will drive economic growth by 20 per cent in 2011 and help lift the country out of the low income bracket into the middle –income ranks of countries like Egypt.

However, an industry player, the Country Manager of Tullow Oil has reiterated that it is imperative for Ghanaians to manage their expectations reasonably. According to the official, “Ghana does not yet have an oil industry; it only has an oil field.”

As the operator of the 800 million-1.2 billion Jubilee field, we believe the advice should be taken in good faith. Jubilee is currently Tullow’s largest project and initial output from the field is expected to reach 120,000 barrels per day, rising to 150,000 barrels per day within, months and potentially peaking at 250,000 barrels per day by 2013.

The Paper believes the Tullow Oil country manager’s comment is a genuine manifestation and not unduly borne out of malice and should be appreciated as such.
Even before the first barrel is drilled, there seems to be a lot of clamouring from both traditional authorities as well as others with regards the expected revenue to be accrued from the well. The seeming over-hyped expectation has given rise to a lot of comment from both official and unofficial sources about what the oil is expected to do to the economy thereby giving rise to a lot of demands.

As the country prepares to drill for oil, at every opportunity, there are comments from well –meaning people who remind us that the resource, if not well managed, can prove to be an albatross around the neck of nations like sister oil-producing countries in the sub-region who still wallow in poverty amid the availability of the resource in abundance.

Ghana is truly blessed to discover this lifeline at this opportune moment but it will also do us a wealth of good if we just go on with our normal lives as if the oil discovery had not been announced.

This way, we would not be building our hopes so high as to merit the comment of some of the crucial players in the industry who might feel the country is making a meal out of this new-found discovery.

There is a need to feel relief from a resource which is bound to add to our dwindling foreign reserves but the caution is that it should be measured!
In a related development, the Paper is encouraged by government’s intention to introduce a policy that would ensure Ghanaians are given the opportunity to maximize the benefits from the oil find.

To this end, the western rail corridor is seriously being considered for rehabilitation to facilitate the smooth operation of the oil and gas sector. Local companies have therefore been enjoined to brace themselves up for the likely competition that would be faced from foreign companies.

The Minister of Trade and Industry who attended the just-ended three-day conference to discuss a proposed policy to promote local participation expressed the hope that the policy would help reduce the tension that usually accompanies the production of oil.

The policy, when adopted, will ensure that an operator or an agent in the petroleum sub-sector shall ensure that opportunities for employment is given to Ghanaians who have the requisite expertise.

Source: B&FT