The College of Engineering of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), has commissioned a new Petroleum Complex. The Complex, estimated at GHC 7,601,172.03, was constructed with internally-generated funds and an additional US $1.0 million as direct counterpart government funding to support the internal efforts of the University in accelerating the completion of the complex which is made up of a laboratory, classrooms and offices.
The College has received about US $ 7 million worth of laboratory equipment for the Departments of Petroleum and Petrochemical Engineering through the Gas Capacity Building Project. The complex was built to house the equipment.
The Gas Capacity Building Project was conceived by the Government of Ghana as part of strategies to rapidly increase the capacity of institutions managing the oil and gas sector and to offer support to institutions which train skilled Ghanaian workers to operate in the oil and gas sector. The government has received US $ 38 million World Bank credit for its implementation.
In his welcome address, Professor William Otoo Ellis, Vice-Chancellor, said two years before the discovery of oil in commercial quantities in Ghana, KNUST started formal academic programmes in Petroleum Engineering. This according to him showed the foresight of the then leadership and also reflected the strategic position and contribution of this University to Ghana’s development.
He said there was the need for capacity building to meet the demands of industry and the aspirations of Ghanaians. Part of the response of KNUST has been to upgrade the ongoing oil and gas engineering, science education and research to respond to these needs.
Prof. Ellis thanked the World Bank and the Ministry of Petroleum for the capacity development in teaching and research, retooling of the library of the College of Engineering with books on oil and gas and related fields amounting to slightly over US $ 9 million.
Honorable Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, Minister of Petroleum, congratulated the University for financing this Petroleum Complex largely from internally generated funds. He said that through the project, 19 staff members comprising 7 MSc and 4 PhDs had been trained in oil and gas courses. The Process Engineering and Unit Operations Laboratories 1&11 had also been refurbished at the cost of US$ 1.0 million and awaiting the procurement and installation of equipment and textbooks worth over US$ 50,000 to be supplied to the Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Departments.
Mr. Armah-Kofi Buah said apart from KNUST, institutions such as Petroleum Commission, Economic and Organized Crimes Office, the Attorney General’s Department, Council for Tertiary and Vocational Education and Training, Ghana Revenue Authority, Environmental Protection Agency, Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Petroleum have all benefitted from the project.
Dr. Kwame Saarah Mensah said that currently most students graduated and had no jobs in the country. There was therefore the need to train students who would be relevant to society for sustainable development. He used the occasion to thank all stakeholders for their support and confidence in KNUST.
