Kwami Ahiabenu,II Knowledge Chief

Imagine this: A biochemical process forms hydrocarbons, in reserves that are proven or unproven, and in types that are sweet and light or heavy and sour. Then find out the commercial viability of such reserves and measure the output in barrels per day. Now imagine gas floating on oil. Someone tells you that the transformation of these resources into industrial and consumable products takes place through upstream, midstream or downstream activities. The above makes little sense to some outside "the business," including many citizens in countries where oil, gas and minerals have recently been discovered. But the complex and nuanced issues surrounding the oil and gas sector—from the geology to exploration, extraction and, the most crucial stage of all, commercial development—become clearer with a little help. The Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) offered to decode for us this complicated industry, and so I took my first little baby st...

A lecturer has called on the Government to help train young people in new technologies so they could use the acquired technological know-how to accelerate the pace of development. Dr Stephen Kudom Donyinah, a Senior Lecturer, Department of Chemical/Petroleum Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Ghana, said the Government could invest in such new technologies by providing scholarships for young people to train abroad. He said they could then come back and compete with foreign expatriates, working especially in the oil and gas sector, and take over from them in future. Speaking on the topic: "Engineering and Technological Challenges of the Oil and Gas industry in Ghana," Dr Donyinah, who is also the College of Engineering Coordinator, Petroleum Engineering Programme, KNUST, said just as done in countries like Japan, government could also partner with training institutions in Ghana to help identify and select t...