SHS STUDENTS SENSITISED TO OIL AND GAS (PAGE 11, OCT 13, 2010)

THE Kumasi Institute of Technology and Environment (KITE), a non-governmental organisation has organised a sensitisation forum on the country’s emerging oil and gas industry for some selected senior high schools in the Western Region.
The forum which was on the theme: "Ghana’s Emerging Petroleum: What Every Student Needs to Know", was to facilitate improved stakeholder access to relevant information on Ghana’s emerging petroleum industry.
The schools were also given 50 copies each of KITE’s two publications on the oil and gas industry to be kept in their libraries.
The schools were the Takoradi Senior High School, Archbishop Porter Girls Senior High School, Fijai Senior High School, Ghana Senior High Technical School, Takoradi Business/Technical College, Takoradi Technical Institute, Bompeh Senior High/Technical School and Sekondi College.
The rest were Ahantaman Senior High School, Saint John’s College, Diabene Senior High/Technical School, Methodist Senior High/Vocational School, Shama Senior High School, Baidoo Bonsoe Senior High School, Saint Mary’s Boys Senior High School and Holy Child College of Education.
In his presentation, the Executive Director of KITE, Mr Ishmael Edjekumhene said everywhere in the world, particularly in the developing countries where oil was found, there were some challenges.
These challenges, he said, were how to manage the high expectations of the people, and the countries’ resources to make the people happy, as well as how to manage the environmental consequences.
He urged the students to share the information they had received with their colleagues who were not at the forum.
He noted that prospecting for oil was a very risky and expensive venture, since oil exploration, development and production were capital intensive and not labour intensive and as such, not a major direct employer.
Mr Edjekumhene advised the students to be realistic in their expectations and not to change their courses because they wanted direct employment in the oil and gas industry.
He explained that although the oil field was located in the territorial waters of Ghana, the oil industry was global in character and very competitive.
A tutor at the Takoradi Senior High School, Ms Beatrice Klutse advised the students to be careful when choosing their future career.