GNPC to award 1000 scholarships
The Chief Executive Officer of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) , Dr Kofi Koduah Sarpong, has announced that the corporation would this year award a total of 1000 scholarships to students in the country.
He said the scholarship would cover areas in the sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics education.
Dr Sarpong said this at a colourful Durbar after President Akufo-Addo turned on the valves on the floating production, storage and offloading vessel FPSO John Agyekum Kufour to commence the formal production of oil and gas in commercial quantities from the Sankofa oil and gas fields in the Cape Three Points.
Mr Sarpong said the corporation would also invest significant resources to minimize the impact of oil and gas operation on the environment.
He said GNPC would improve upon the social conditions of Ghanaians under the environmental and social amenities pillar where borehole would be provided in deprived communities across the country especially in the three Northern Regions.
The CEO said investment under the empowerment pillar would focus on target interventions to enable persons affected by oil and gas activities to serve suitable livelihood, adding “inhabitants in the Western Region and the Voltarian Basin would be provided support for their key economic activities”.
Dr Sarpong said GNPC would liaise with identifiable development oriented organizations and partners to assist farmers and fishermen in these areas to have access to inputs, market, credit facilities, advisory and value addition.
He said the Corporation was working to realize the President’s vision of seeing increased impact of oil operation in the Western Region and that the relocation of the operational activities of the corporation has commenced ,adding that the GNPC Foundation would start operation in Sekondi Takoradi next month.
The CEO said there was great potentials to produce more gas and Oil from Sankofa Fields, stressing that the production of more gas should lead to cheaper price of the product, which should translate into cheaper electricity and set the stage for the promotion of petrochemical industry in the country.
Dr Sarpong said GNPC has positioned itself to venture into the production of fertilizer, ethanol and other petrochemical products once more gas was produced and they invited private investors to join hands with the GNPC.
He hinted that the GNPC was launching an “Operation Find oil in the Voltarian Basin” adding that the next 18 months would see more exploration in the quest to discover hydrocarbons.
Dr Sarpong commended the partners, ENI and Vitol for completing the project three months ahead of schedule and under budget and gave the assurance that the GNPC would continue to work with them.
For his part, the Western Regional Minister Dr. Kwaku Afriyie, expressed joy with the commissioning of the Sankofa Fields, which brings to three successions of oil fields in the Region, which he said apart from creating jobs had also resulted in the provision of massive infrastructure and industries in the region.
He said the people of the Region would work hard to sustain the oil fields by ensuring peace and tranquillity.
Dr Afriyie said the Region contributes about 50 per cent of the country’s GDP, adding, the Region was endowed with natural resources including gold, bauxite, rubber and now oil and gas.
Present at the colourful ceremony was the former President John Agyekum Kufour, Mr Freddie Blay, Acting Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Western Regional Council of State member, and Chiefs from all the 22 paramountcies in Region as well as security officers, NPP supporters and a across section of pubic .
The Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) integrated oil and gas development is made up of the Sankofa main, Sankofa East and Gye-Nyame Fields, which are located about 60 kilometres off Western Region coast.
The Sankofa fields would produce a total of 45.000 BOPD of oil and 170 MMSCFD through 19 wells.
Source: GNA