Freddie Blay and Gabby Otchere-Darko
Board Chairman of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Freddie Blay, will lead a delegation from the corporation to Guyana, a South American country, for a two-day conference on oil and gas local content.
The Ghana-Guyana Local Content Conference seeks to provide services to the oil and gas sector, and will open at the Guyana Marriott Hotel in Kingston, Georgetown today.
The conference promises rich exchanges of knowledge and experience and the prospects for possible strategic partnerships.
The Ghana Chamber of Commerce Guyana, chaired by Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, is organising the event in collaboration with ALA Strategic Consults Limited, with support from the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Local Content Secretariat in Guyana, as well as the GNPC, Ghana National Gas Company, and the Petroleum Commission.
“The idea for us is how we can get partnerships and Guyanese companies to see how we learned the hard way,” Otchere-Darko said at the launch of the conference.
According to him, local startup companies are being specifically targeted and will receive free conference tickets if they register.
“Even though it is 500 of us to participate, as Chairman, I have discretion. So we are offering free tickets to startup companies. Just go online and register at the Ghana Chamber of Commerce Guyana.
“The whole idea is to see how the Ghanaian companies that have developed expertise in the oil and gas sector can meet with their Guyanese counterparts and share ideas and expertise,” he noted.
Mr. Otchere-Darko indicated that the conference was an opportunity for Guyanese to learn the secrets of the trade, and find collaboration.
Earlier, the Chamber said in a statement that everything was ready for the much-anticipated two-day Ghana-Guyana Local Content Conference, which would take place from August 10 to 11, 2023, at the Marriott Hotel in Georgetown, Guyana.
“This is a huge opportunity for consultants and service providers in both countries’ upstream petroleum sectors to create strategic partnerships, share experiences, explore investment and collaboration opportunities, and discuss various ways of deepening local capacity and participation in the oil and gas sectors of the two countries,” said Mr. Nicholas Deygoo of National Hardware, Guyana.
The conference, the first of its kind, will bring together industry players from both countries’ corporate and public sectors to discuss and exchange ideas about local content and capacity building in the Guyanese upstream petroleum sector.
During a recent webinar, Prof. Suresh Narine of CGX Energy commented on the conference, saying that “local content cannot realise its full potential without the right partnerships.”
He said Ghana, as a newcomer to the petroleum industry, would need the ability to generate the necessary funds since there is plenty of space for growth in terms of skill set and opportunities for finance relationships.
For him, entry into the business in Guyana would necessitate not only a skill set and know-how, but also the ability to generate the needed finance.
The conference, organised in accordance with Ghana and Guyana’s collaboration agreement, is a practical way of giving the pact meaning.
Discussions will center on encouraging local workforce development, technology transfer and knowledge exchange, engagement in local content, and capacity building.
“The focus on local participation is crucial especially at the early stages of oil exploration in any country. It brings about reassurance and makes oil wealth accessible to citizens who cannot be left out, and we are beyond thrilled to be part of the conversations,” Stanley Amarteifio, CEO of the Ghana Chamber of Commerce, Guyana said.
Experts in the upstream oil and gas sector, he stated, would be in attendance to offer essential insights and experiences that will define the future of the petroleum sector in both countries.
The conference will feature panel talks on a variety of topics, as well as B2B engagements and networking opportunities.
By Ernest Kofi Adu