The Deputy Minister of Energy in charge of petroleum, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam has affirmed government’s commitment to support institutions that train Ghanaian workforce to operate in the Oil and Gas industry.

A statement issued by Mr King A Wellington, the Communication Officer of the Energy Ministry and copied to the Ghana News Agency said Dr Amin Adam, made this known when he paid a working visit to the Regional Maritime University (RMU) in Accra.

The visit amongst other things, was to enable Dr Amin Adam get himself acquainted with the activities of the University, interact with Authorities of the University and also inspect engineering equipment procured and installed by the Oil and Gas Capacity Building Project (OGCBP) for RMU.

The Deputy Minister said it was important that Ghanaians acquired requisite skills needed to be at the forefront of Ghana’s petroleum industry.

He said government would soon roll-out a new programme dubbed the “Accelerated Oil and Gas Capacity Building Programme”, to build capacity of state institutions and improve local content in the petroleum sector; adding that We are through with the concept and we will soon submit it to Cabinet for approval”.

The RMU Vice Chancellor, Professor Elvis K. Nyarko, thanked the Deputy Minister for visiting the University.

He said the OGCBP had provided them with state of the art equipment to build capacity to support the local content policy and also train Ghanaians to operate in the sector.

“This will enable us to train more people and bring them up to a level where they can be properly certified,” he said. He said RMU was now well equipped to provide training in both the petroleum upstream and downstream sectors.

Prof Nyarko also explained the significant contributions that RMU was making in Ghana’s petroleum industry. “RMU is contributing to producing critical human resources needed for Ghana’s oil and gas industry. We collaborate with industry to ensure that those who get trained with us get work easily,” he added.

The Project Coordinator of the OGCBP, Mr Alex Kyei, indicated that the Ministry was collaborating with RMU to train 500 welders in order for them to be certified.

The Deputy Minister and his entourage including the Chief Director of the Ministry, Mr Lawrence Apaalse, toured the Well Control Simulator Lab, Process Operator Simulator Lab, Drilling Fluids Lab and Electrical Lab of the university.