The Petroleum Commission trained only 174 Ghanaians under its Accelerated Oil and Gas Capacity (AOGC) Programme between 2019 and 2024, representing 2.9 per cent of its target of 6,000 people, the Auditor-General has found.
The finding is contained in the Performance Audit Report of the Auditor-General on the Implementation of Local Content and Participation in the Upstream Oil and Gas Sector by Petroleum Commission of Ghana.
The Commission’s corporate strategic plans for 2019–2023 and 2024–2028 set an annual target of training 1,000 Ghanaians under the AOGC Programme. The initiative was intended to equip citizens with internationally recognised technical and vocational skills to enable them to replace expatriates in the upstream oil and gas industry.
However, the audit found that the Commission’s training interventions reached only 174 beneficiaries during the six-year period, largely because of the limited number of programmes rolled out.
The training covered welding, fabrication, millwright and pipefitting and was delivered in collaboration with the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) in Canada, Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NAP) in Singapore and the Jubilee Technical Training Centre in Ghana.
Of the 174 beneficiaries, 24 were trained as trainers to transfer their skills to others, while 150 received training for direct employment in the upstream oil and gas sector.
The report said 85 of the 150 trainees had secured employment with oil and gas companies in Ghana, while the remaining 65 were on internship and job placement programmes.
The audit attributed the shortfall partly to the Commission’s reliance on expected financial support from international oil companies. It said the programme was largely dependent on industry funding, including a US$4.5 million pledge made by Aker Energy in 2018, which was not fulfilled.
Petroleum Commission officials told the auditors that the failure to secure the pledged funding significantly constrained the Commission’s ability to implement the full programme outlined in its strategic plans.
The audit also identified challenges with the deployment of some of the trainers sponsored by the Commission.
Five of the 24 trainer-of-trainers, drawn from Kikam Technical Institute, Takoradi Technical University and Suame Magazine in Kumasi, left the country after completing their two-year service bonds.
The remaining 19 were still working at their respective institutions but could not fully apply the knowledge acquired to train students because their institutions lacked the necessary equipment, accredited curricula or facilities.
At Ho Technical University, for example, a technician instructor who received nine months of training in welding, pipefitting and millwright at NAIT in 2021 said the institution lacked the accredited curriculum and facilities required to train students in professional welding for the upstream oil and gas sector.
The instructor, who held a Canadian Welding Bureau Level I trainer-of-trainers certification, said the certification expired in 2024.
At the Regional Maritime University in Nungua, the audit found that there was no pipefitting facility for the two beneficiaries trained in the discipline to train students.
The report also highlighted delays in establishing a specialised Welding and Pipefitting Centre of Excellence at Takoradi Technical University.
Although the university offered the Commission 2.1 acres of land for the facility in 2021, construction had not commenced as of August 2025, when the audit team inspected the proposed site.
Petroleum Commission officials said feasibility studies had been completed but the project required US$13.9 million in funding.
Maersk Drilling donated 17 inverter welding machines with accessories and an overhead crane in 2024 to support the establishment of the centre. However, the equipment remained in its packaging boxes in storage at Takoradi Technical University during the audit inspection.
The Commission said the equipment was being properly preserved pending completion of the project.
The Auditor-General concluded that the Commission had not trained enough Ghanaians to take up roles in the upstream oil and gas industry, leaving limited numbers of citizens in basic technical occupations such as welding and pipefitting.
The report recommended that the Commission pursue sustainable funding partnerships with industry operators and development partners, work with educational institutions to secure the necessary accreditation for training programmes, and intensify efforts to obtain funding for the proposed centre at Takoradi Technical University.
In its response, the Petroleum Commission acknowledged that it failed to meet its annual target of training 1,000 Ghanaians between 2019 and 2024.
It said the 174 beneficiaries were trained using partial funding from its internally generated funds and US$250,000 provided by Baker Hughes Ghana Limited.
The Commission said it remained committed to the AOGC Programme and would intensify engagements with industry operators and development partners to secure sustainable funding for future capacity-building initiatives.
