Egbert Faibille Jnr (third left), Joe Cudjoe and other Modec officials at the event.
Modec Production Services JV Ghana Limited (MPSG) has launched an oil and gas training programme for 16 Ghanaians.
They are expected to travel to Brazil in three batches beginning from February 2019 to get hands-on training in Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSOs).
Each trainee is to spend a total of six months on Modec’s FPSOs in Brazil.
They are to be trained in maintenance, operations and management of FPSOs, and upon their return to Ghana, the trainees are expected to impact their knowledge to others in the country’s oil and gas sector to improve local content in the country.
Speaking at the inauguration of the training programme on Monday at the Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra, Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Petroleum Commission, Egbert Faibille Jnr, explained that the training programme was a collaborative effort by the Commission and Modec Production Services.
According to him, in 2018, Modec approached the Commission to seek permission to bring in 15 expatriates to manage its two FPSOs, namely Kwame Nkrumah and John Evans Atta Mills.
He said during a meeting between officials of Modec and Petroleum Commission, the Petroleum Commission, in keeping with Ghana’s Local Content Law, proposed that Modec finances the training of 16 Ghanaians abroad in FPSO management, operations and maintenance.
The Acting CEO indicated that the proposal was intended to get some Ghanaians trained so that in the event the 15 expatriates leave the country, Ghanaians could be able to manage the FPSOs themselves without having to rely on foreigners.
He added that within a year Modec kept its promise of sending some Ghanaian employees overseas for training.
He revealed that the Government of Ghana was very committed to training Ghanaians to take their rightful place in the upstream petroleum space, urging the beneficiaries who have been working mainly onshore to take their training programme in Brazil seriously.
Deputy Minister of Energy, Joe Codjoe, observed that the training programme was appropriate.
He stated that government was supportive of initiatives that create wealth for both Modec and Ghana.
General Manager of MPSG, David Gleane, said the Modec Secondment Training Programme is designed to provide the best skills set.
By Melvin Tarlue