The Petroleum Commission has marked its 15th anniversary by launching a Local Content Fund for indigenous Ghanaian small and medium-sized enterprises and a digital platform for managing permit applications.
Chief Executive Officer Ms Emeafa Hardcastle announced the initiatives at the opening of the 2026 Local Content Conference and Exhibition (LCCE) in Takoradi.
She described the LCCE as Ghana’s flagship conference for the upstream petroleum industry and one of the most influential platforms for dialogue on the petroleum sector in West Africa.
Delegates attending the event included representatives from across the petroleum value chain, sister regulators from Africa, the Caribbean, the Americas, Asia and Europe, as well as members of academia and the financial sector.
Ms Hardcastle said the conference’s timing was significant because it coincided with 15 years since the establishment of the Petroleum Commission.
“We reaffirm our commitment to excellence, innovation, transparency and stakeholder collaboration to ensure Ghana’s petroleum resources continue to create lasting value for current and future generations,” she said.
This year’s conference is being held under the theme: “Enriching Local Content for Sustainable Growth: Building a Resilient Upstream Sector through Reforms and Partnerships to Spur Competitiveness and Investment.”
Ms Hardcastle said the theme reflected the industry’s changing priorities and underlined the close relationship between exploration and production (E&P) and local content.
“The theme challenges us to move beyond participation and towards competitiveness. How do we transform local content from a compliance obligation into a catalyst for investment, innovation, industrial growth and sustainable economic transformation?” she asked.
Ghanaian firms expand their role
Giving an update on progress over the past 12 months, Ms Hardcastle said Ghana’s local content framework, introduced more than 13 years ago, was designed to increase indigenous participation and develop companies capable of competing internationally.
She said that goal was being achieved, with Ghanaian businesses now delivering services previously dominated by foreign companies.
Those services include supplying specialty chemicals, drilling fluids, cementing and mud plants; operating thermal desorption plants; assembling Steel Flying Leads; and threading and coating pipes.
Ghana also has fabrication yards producing modules for FPSO topsides and subsea equipment. Their work includes module stools, jumpers, suction piles, riser bases, manifolds, mud mats and riser protection.
In addition, training centres offering state-of-the-art oil and gas instruction have been established, attracting clients from Ghana and elsewhere in Africa.
The Commission has compiled a Catalogue of In-Country Capabilities and Capacities to highlight the available expertise and facilities. The catalogue is available at the registration desk.
Ms Hardcastle said reduced onshore rotational workers, stronger monitoring of succession planning and a database of domestic expertise had helped reduce expatriate numbers and push the localisation ratio to well over 90%.
The Local Content Fund will provide financial support for indigenous Ghanaian SMEs working in the upstream petroleum sector. The Digital Permit Application and Management System will allow companies to submit applications, monitor approvals, receive notifications, upload compliance documents and communicate with the Commission online.
Ms Hardcastle also appealed to President Mahama and the Minister for Finance for the Commission to receive funding from the Petroleum Funds.
“Sustainable funding allocation will support strategic initiatives aimed at enhancing regulatory effectiveness, strengthening technical and institutional capacity, accelerating digital transformation and improving petroleum data and resource management,” she said. “Given the increasing complexity of the global energy landscape, a well-resourced regulator is essential.”
