A Deputy Energy Minister, Mr Andrew Egyapa Mercer, has reiterated the NPP government’s commitment to local content and participation in Ghana’s oil and gas industry.

This, according to Mr Mercer, would ensure that Ghanaians have the opportunity to maximise fully, the country’s hydrocarbon resource.

He made this assertion when he represented Energy Minister Matthew Opoku Prempeh at the commissioning of the MV Flat Confidence Vessel at the Takoradi Commercial Port on Thursday morning, 18 November 2021.

The deputy minister, who also represents Sekondi in parliament, said following the discovery of oil in commercial quantities in Ghana, there have been several concerted efforts aimed at developing local capacity to service and participate in the industry and, thus, the commissioning of this vessel was a step further in Ghana’s local content drive.

“The socio-economic benefits of a robust local content policy in any economy cannot be underestimated”.

“Regrettably, however, these efforts have largely not yielded the desired results”.

“Indeed, the effectiveness of our local content policy has depended, to a very large extent, on the capacity of local individuals to take up opportunities that are available to them in the sector,” he noted

He further stressed that the government of Ghana, under the leadership of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has been advocating the participation of local companies in Ghana’s upstream oil and gas industry, as a way of creating economic opportunities in the oil and gas value chain.

“Government has initiated policies including the Annual Local Content Conferences to showcase opportunities within the sector and encourage Ghanaians to take same up; the proposed review of the Petroleum (Local Content and Local Participation) Regulations, 2013 L. I 2204 which is intended to introduce mechanisms such as ‘Channeling’ ‘Strategic Alliances’ among others with the view to accelerating Ghanaian participation in the sector."

The Amendment Regulation, according to Mr Mercer, has been duly laid in Parliament.

The MV Flat Confidence vessel is the first Ghanaian-owned, Ghanaian flagged marine vessel to support offshore activities in the Ghanaian oil and gas industry.

It was birthed from Tullow Ghana’s local content initiative dubbed “The Marine Sector Adoption Initiative”.