Ghana strengthens relations with Trinidad and Tobago

Accra, Aug. 12, GNA - Dr Joe Oteng-Adjei, Minister of Energy, led a government delegation to join the Government and people of Trinidad and Tobago to commemorate Emancipation Day celebrations on Sunday, August 1.

A statement issued in Accra on Thursday and signed by Mr Hilton John Mitchell, Honorary Consul of Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in Accra, said other members of the delegation were Mr Thomas Manu, Director of Operations.

It said Dr Oteng-Adjei delivered a special message from President John Evans Atta Mills during a courtesy call on Mrs Kamla Persad Bissessar, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago.

The statement said the delegation held bilateral talks with Premier and Senator Carolyn Seepersad Bachan, Minister of Energy and Energy Industries, on Trinidad and Tobago's continuous support for the development of Ghana's gas sector.

Dr Oteng-Adjei pointed out that from the recent discoveries in the Jubilee Oil Field, Ghana had become a major oil and gas country.

"The discoveries indicate that the field contains expected recoverable reserves of about 800 million barrels of light crude oil with an upside potential of about three billion barrels," he added.

The Energy Minister pledged government's commitment to encourage industry practitioners in the sector to share ideas with their counterparts in Trinidad and Tobago to improve local content participation.

Mrs Bissessar acknowledged the mutually beneficial relationship that had existed between the two countries over the years.

"It is thoughtful of Ghana to send a delegation to reassure the new government of the continued cordial relations between them," she added.

Mrs Bissessar assured Ghana of her country's support in developing the nation's nascent oil and gas industry.

Mr Manu observed that the issue of local content and participation, which had recently gained prominence internationally, was key to any oil producing country seeking to maximize benefits from its oil resources.

"The huge value they can bring to oil and gas producing community provides compelling reasons for the development and enactment of a local content and participation policy in Ghana," he added.

Trinidad and Tobago lie in the Caribbean Sea off the northeast coast of Venezuela. It practices Parliamentary democracy and has been producing oil for the past 100 years.

She ventured into the field of gas in the last 50 years, and currently the world's largest producer of ammonia fertilizer and methanol.