Some 150 young people who participated in the Accelerated Oil and Gas Capacity Building (AOGC) programme today graduated.
The AOGC programme was launched by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo in November 2017 with the intent to enhance the capacities of Ghanaians to enable them to obtain requisite internationally recognized certifications to work in the upstream petroleum sector.
The 150 graduands made up of 127 males and 23 females were selected nationwide after excelling in vigorous examinations and interviews.
Speaking during the ceremony, the Western Regional Minister, Kobby Okyere Darko said the prospects of Ghana’s oil and gas sector and the growing needs of its population, he does not doubt that the AOGC programme is the surest way of promoting local content and local participation in the oil and gas industry. He added that the Western Region is ever ready to support this cause and similar government initiatives in the near future.
The CEO of the Petroleum Commission Egbert Faibille Jnr. on his part said it is expensive to acquire the certifications that the graduates are obtaining and that the Petroleum Commission spent 5.1 million cedis on the AOGC programme.
Rev. Prof. John Frank Eshun the Vice-Chancellor of the Takoradi Technical University said with the rising unemployment rate among the young in the country, the government deliberately carved an agenda of ensuring that the Ghanaian youth play a pivotal role in the exploration, exploitation and management of the of oil both in the upstream and downstream hence the training of the 150 beneficiaries.
One of the beneficiaries of the AOGC Programme, Perfect Dzigbordi Agorduku commended the Petroleum Commission for the opportunity and guidance given to them.