By Lydia Kukua Asamoah, GNA’s Special
Correspondent, Stavanger, Norway
Stavanger (Norway), Aug 31, GNA – Ghana’s
delegation to the just ended 2018 Offshore North Sea (ONS) Conference and
Exhibition in Stavanger, Norway, has hailed the trade mission as a huge success
– open up new opportunities for investment in the country’s oil and gas sector.
Over 40
Ghanaian businesses participated in the four-day global event, held under the
theme “Innovate” and they were unanimous in their optimism about the future of
the sector.
They mounted stands and actively engaged with
their foreign business counterparts.
Deputy Minister of Energy Joseph Cudjoe, Mr.
Egbert Faibille, Chief Executive Officer of the (CEO) of the Petroleum
Commission, and Mr. Lawrence Apaalse, Chief Director of the Energy Ministry,
where among government official’s present.
The ONS conference held biannually in Norway –
one of the world’s leading oil producing countries, is hosted by ONS Foundation
and the Munich Security Conference.
In excess of 1,000 delegates attended this
year’s conference which discussed key trends driving the oil market at present
and potential game changers of the future energy landscape.
The Petroleum Commission and Norwegian Energy
Partners (NORWEP) facilitated the participation of the Ghanaian companies and
the goal was to create opportunities for them to forge partnerships and to help
bring in increased foreign investments.
Mr. Joe Ofori, CEO of Alaska Logistics
Limited, said good contacts had been made and the benefits could be tremendous.
It was a big platform that gave them
international exposure. The future of Ghana’s oil and gas sector could only
look good, he added.
Mr. Emmanuel Kofi Abbey, CEO of AB Engineering
said the fact that the “Government facilitated our participation in the
conference and exhibition, has given credibility to our companies”.
This view was shared by Mr. Isaac Annochie,
Managing Director of 7 Energy Services, who said although his company already
had a partner in Norway, the trade mission had given it added credibility in
the eyes of his Norwegian partner.
Mr. Faibille assured them of the government’s
unswerving determination to support the growth of the local industries.
He added that the issue of local content
empowerment was dear to the Commission, saying “we are working in a very
proactive way to clear the path for people like yourselves and also others who
are yet to come”.
“If we will be remembered as the set that
ensured that local content was taken to the level, where we all wanted it, we
will be satisfied.”
“Our focus is to ensure that we give our
people the necessary empowerment so that we would not look back with regret,
with respect to earnings, capacity building and every other relevant issue.”
The ONS summit provided the forum for broad
dialogue on how countries could reach their policy goals, including interaction
with the private sector.
GNA