Ghana Seeks PTI’s Expertise to Establish Oil and Gas Centre of Excellence By Wilson Macaulay

 

Ghana is seeking to leverage Nigeria’s decades of experience in petroleum training and technical manpower development as its National Petroleum Authority explores a strategic partnership with the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Effurun, Delta State, towards establishing a centre of excellence for the country’s oil and gas industry.

The move took a significant step forward on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, when a high-level delegation from Ghana’s National Petroleum Authority visited PTI to explore opportunities for technical assistance, institutional collaboration, research, professional training and human capital development across the upstream and downstream segments of the petroleum industry.

The visit underscores Ghana’s determination to strengthen indigenous technical capacity by drawing on Nigeria’s established expertise, while promoting regional cooperation and knowledge exchange within Africa’s hydrocarbon sector.

Welcoming the delegation on behalf of PTI’s Principal and Chief Executive, Engr. Dr. Samuel E. Onoji, the institute’s Director of Research and Development, Dr. Tina Isechei, expressed delight at the visit and assured the Ghanaian officials of PTI’s readiness to establish a mutually beneficial partnership capable of advancing petroleum industry expertise in both countries.

Speaking at the institute’s Council Chambers, Dr. Isechei described the engagement as an opportunity to deepen regional solidarity, facilitate knowledge transfer and strengthen institutional cooperation in developing a technically competitive African oil and gas industry.

She recalled that PTI was established in 1972 to develop the technical manpower required to support Nigeria’s emergence as a major player in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the global petroleum industry.

According to her, the institute has trained more than 50,000 personnel over the past 54 years, many of whom have contributed to the development of Nigeria’s petroleum industry and other oil-producing economies.

She said PTI’s accumulated experience in specialised training, practical instruction and technical skills development had positioned the institution to provide valuable assistance to Ghana as the country seeks to strengthen its capacity in petroleum exploration, production, processing and related operations.

“PTI is ready and glad to be of help to the Ghana National Petroleum Authority in every conceivable way, having gathered the expertise over the 54 years of the institute’s existence,” she said.

Dr. Isechei commended the Ghanaian delegation for identifying PTI as a potential strategic partner, expressing confidence that the proposed collaboration would create opportunities to improve technical training, strengthen professional competence and expand institutional cooperation between the two West African countries.

PTI Highlights Four Pillars of Excellence

Explaining the factors behind the institute’s longstanding reputation, Dr. Isechei identified four major pillars underpinning its achievements: expertise, experience, exclusivity and effectiveness.

She emphasised that PTI’s commitment to practical, hands-on training distinguished the institution as a destination for specialised petroleum education and technical skills acquisition.

According to her, the institute’s training philosophy is designed to equip participants with the practical knowledge, technical proficiency and professional competence required to operate effectively in the increasingly sophisticated and technology-driven petroleum industry.

On academic quality assurance, she explained that the institute’s curriculum is certified by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), reflecting its commitment to recognised standards in technical education.

She added that PTI’s training programmes are supported by specialised facilities and experienced personnel capable of translating theoretical knowledge into practical industrial competence.

Dr. Isechei listed some of the institute’s areas of strength to include welding and fabrication, drilling and well control, National Skills Qualification (NSQ) certification programmes, the Skills Development Academy, firefighting training, underwater welding operations and research clusters.

She noted that the combination of specialised facilities and experienced technical personnel had enabled the institute to deliver professional training across several critical areas of petroleum operations.

The PTI representative assured the visiting officials of a guided tour of the institute’s facilities to enable them to assess its training infrastructure, operational capabilities and specialised equipment firsthand.

She also encouraged the Ghanaian delegation to explore participation in PTI’s Annual International Conference on Hydrocarbon Science and Technology, which she said had been promoting manpower development and knowledge exchange in the petroleum industry since 2023.

‘Nigeria Is Our Big Brother’, Says Ghanaian Delegation Leader

Responding, the leader of the Ghanaian delegation, Dr. Joseph Wilson, Director of Research at Ghana’s National Petroleum Authority, conveyed greetings from Ghana to the PTI academic community and the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

He expressed appreciation for the warm reception accorded the delegation, describing the presentations and discussions with PTI management as enlightening and valuable to Ghana’s petroleum industry development aspirations.

Dr. Wilson acknowledged that Ghana had much to learn from PTI’s decades of institutional experience, technical expertise and practical training capabilities.

He explained that the delegation’s primary objective was to explore ways of deepening technical capacity across the upstream and downstream segments of Ghana’s oil and gas industry.

According to him, Ghana deliberately chose Nigeria as a strategic partner because of the longstanding relationship between both countries, their shared regional interests and the need to strengthen African cooperation in critical industrial sectors.

“We are here basically to deepen capacity. For reasons having to do with regional solidarity, Ghana decided to choose Nigeria as a senior partner instead of looking outside the continental shelf of Africa,” he said.

Emphasising the importance of the proposed collaboration, Dr. Wilson added: “Nigeria, being our big brother, became our desired destination for us to seek technical assistance to set up our own centre of excellence.”

He explained that the proposed partnership was expected to address several strategic areas, including legal frameworks, technical assistance, stakeholder engagement, consultancy services, human capital development and capacity building.

Dr. Wilson expressed confidence that the engagement would provide the delegation with valuable insights into the institutional structures, technical resources and training systems required to advance Ghana’s petroleum industry.

He thanked PTI management for providing the delegation with the opportunity to examine the institute’s operations and explore areas of possible cooperation, expressing optimism that the knowledge gained would help inform Ghana’s efforts to establish a specialised centre of excellence tailored to its industry needs.

Ghanaian Delegation Inspects PTI’s Facilities

A major highlight of the visit was a guided tour of PTI’s specialised training facilities, where the Ghanaian delegates received practical explanations of petroleum operations and the technical processes involved in oil and gas production.

Leading the delegation through the rig operations facility, the Director of Rig Operations, Engr. Lawrence Uti, explained the workings of the rig and demonstrated the operational principles behind equipment used in drilling activities.

The engagement provided the visiting Ghanaian officials and engineers with an opportunity to connect theoretical training with the practical realities of petroleum operations.

The delegation subsequently visited the institute’s flow station, where the Flow Station Director, Engr. Austin Ogugu, conducted the visitors around the facility and explained the operational processes involved in handling crude oil and associated production fluids.

Engr. Ogugu explained the functions of the major components of the flow station, beginning with the wellhead and manifold and extending to the separators and designated gas, water and crude oil chambers.

He described how the various components work together to separate and handle production fluids before the crude oil proceeds to subsequent stages of processing and handling.

The practical session offered the Ghanaian delegation valuable insight into the operational systems, equipment and technical procedures required for effective petroleum production and processing.

The tour also demonstrated the importance of practical training infrastructure in preparing engineers and technical personnel for the operational demands of the oil and gas industry.

High-Level Officials Participate in Discussions

Other members of the Ghanaian delegation who participated in the discussions and interactive sessions included Bridgette Obiri-Yeboah, Director, Ghana National Petroleum Authority; Mohammed Issah of COMAC, Director of Policy; Eunice Budu Nyarko, Director of Commercial Services; and Sedinam Mammara, Director of Human Resources.

Others were Mudasiru Malana, Technical Aide; Saed Ubeidaleh, Head of Quality Control; Godwin Yan Konu, Director of Business Development; and George Sasu Afful, responsible for Talent Development.

Their participation reflected the broad range of institutional interests involved in the proposed collaboration, spanning research, policy, commercial services, human resources, quality control, business development and talent development.

Partnership Holds Promise for African Petroleum Industry

The visit presents an opportunity for PTI to extend its technical expertise beyond Nigeria and contribute to the development of skilled manpower across Africa’s petroleum industry.

For Ghana, engagement with the institute could provide access to established training methods, specialised facilities and technical experience as it explores the development of its own centre of excellence.

For PTI, the engagement offers an opportunity to strengthen regional partnerships and contribute to the development of technical personnel capable of meeting the evolving demands of the African oil and gas sector.

The discussions also highlight the importance of collaboration between African institutions in developing indigenous expertise, reducing dependence on external technical support and building the human capital required to manage the continent’s hydrocarbon resources effectively.

The proposed areas of cooperation could provide a foundation for more structured institutional relations, subject to further discussions and mutually agreed arrangements between the parties.

With more than five decades of petroleum training experience and over 50,000 personnel trained, PTI has presented itself as a potential strategic partner in Ghana’s efforts to deepen technical capacity and establish a centre of excellence tailored to the needs of its petroleum industry.

The visit thus marks an important step in exploring how Nigeria’s established petroleum training expertise could support Ghana’s capacity-building ambitions while strengthening technical cooperation between the two West African countries.

Ultimately, the success of the proposed partnership will depend on translating the discussions into concrete training programmes, technical assistance arrangements and institutional commitments capable of producing skilled professionals for the region’s petroleum industry.