The 1st Western Regional Oil and Gas Excellence Awards Ceremony has been held at the Akroma Plaza Hotel in the Western Regional capital, Takoradi, on Thursday, 15th December 2022. The Awards Ceremony which was organised by Top Brass Ghana under the auspices of the Western Regional Co-ordinating Council had the theme: “Ghana: Towards Oil-led Economic Development”.
The Guest of Honour for the Awards Ceremony was the Western Regional Minister, Hon. Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah while the Chairman for the occasion was the Vice-Chancellor of the Takoradi Technical University, Rev. Professor John Frank Eshun. The President of the Gwira Traditional Council who is also the Vice-President of the Western Region House of Chiefs, Awulae Angama Tu-Agyan II, graced the Awards Ceremony.
According to Mr. Isaac Dakwa, Director of Top Brass Ghana, the Western Regional Oil and Gas Excellence Awards Scheme has been instituted with the objective of acknowledging the vital contribution of the Oil and Gas Sector to the economic development of the Western Region and indeed the country as a whole and to honour deserving oil and gas industry players. He said the Awards Ceremony will be scheduled for 15th December every year to more or less coincide with First Oil, that is 15th December 2007, the date of the oil and gas discovery off Cape Three Points in the Western Region.
In an address read on his behalf by Mr. Charles Cobbina, the Special Assistant to the Minister, Hon. Darko-Mensah commended Top Brass Ghana for implementing the Western Regional Oil and Gas Excellence Awards Scheme which will serve as a platform for creating synergies and encouraging industry players to attain greater heights.
The Minister lamented the situation where local players sought partnership arrangements outside the country and urged them to seek partners internally for mutual benefit and also for the promotion of the growth of the economy.
Darko-Mensah noted that Ghana is blessed with abundant natural resources, including in particular the oil and gas industry which, if properly structured, has the potential of driving other sectors with the view to accelerating the economic development of the country.
In a speech read by Prof. Victor Bondzie Micah, Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Takoradi Technical University, Rev. Professor Eshun stated that when oil production started fifteen years ago, many Ghanaians were skeptical as to whether the oil find would be a blessing or a curse to the country. This was because little or no effort was made at ensuring that Ghanaians had the requisite knowledge and skills to contribute to the growth and development of the oil and gas industry and the result has been that most of the related upstream and downstream activities have been left in the hands of expatriates.
Rev. Professor Eshun, therefore, commended the Petroleum Commission as well as the National Petroleum Authority for taking the necessary steps to train Ghanaian youth to play a pivotal role in the exploration and management of these resources. He further pointed out that the oil and gas industry has the capacity to spearhead the nation’s development and also ensure equitable distribution of wealth and urged Government and other key stakeholders to learn the best practices of oil producing countries that have been there before Ghana.
Various companies in the oil and gas industry were honoured at the maiden Awards Ceremony as follows: Gibson Safety Consult Limited (Quality, Environmental Health and Safety Consultancy); Glico General Insurance Company Limited (Insurance Services); Petrosol Ghana Limited (Oil Marketing); Safety World Engineering Limited (Marine Engineering, Offshore/Onshore) and Sagoe Interventions Limited (Fabrication Engineering) received Silver Awards.
