A Petroleum Engineer and Professorial Chair in Oil and Gas Management at the Institute for Oil and Gas Studies of University of Cape Coast (UCC), Prof Omowumi Iledare has expressed worry about the continuous increment of oil price in Africa despite the $50 barrel of crude oil.
He underscored the need for the government to budget the crude using aligned oil prices.
Prof Iledare who doubles as the Africa Region Director and Member of Board of Directors of the Society of Petroleum Engineers stated that even though there is nothing wrong if the price of oil is high, there should be some adjustments.
According to him, Ghana has done well towards sustainability development making sure certain proportion of the oil money is used for infrastructure development unlike Nigeria where there is inappropriate use of oil money by the governors.
At a Public lecture organized by the University of Cape Coast in partnership with Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) under topic “Local content: imperative for sustainable petroleum economy: challenges and strategic options for Ghana”, he disclosed that local content is much more relevant in a transparent and growing economy but not about making individuals millionaires.
He observed that there is no better sector to be the driver of the economy than oil and gas sector adding that timing of development is very crucial for businesses sustainability hence African governments must do their best to reduce the contractual timing and act quickly without necessarily comprising.
“You must use your energy for sustainable economy development and not building millionaires” he admonished.
In his view, the country produces cocoa, export it and getting back milo, chocolate and many more, asking, “how can we begin to think of using these raw materials and perhaps sell finish products”.
