Ghana’s Petroleum Authority Delegation Visits PTI, Seeks Partnership To Build Oil And Gas Capacity

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EFFURUN, Delta State — In a significant move to strengthen regional cooperation and accelerate capacity development in Africa’s petroleum industry, a delegation from Ghana’s National Petroleum Authority on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, visited the Petroleum Training Institute, PTI, Effurun, Delta State, to explore strategic partnership and technical collaboration in oil and gas training, research and human capital development.

Delegation To Assess PTI’s 54 Years Experience In Petroleum Training

The visit provided opportunity for Ghanaian delegation to assess PTI’s decades of experience in petroleum technology education, practical training and skills development, as Ghana seeks to strengthen its technical capacity in upstream and downstream segments of hydrocarbon industry.

Welcoming delegation on behalf of Principal and Chief Executive of PTI, Engr. Dr. Samuel E. Onoji, the institute’s representative, Dr. Tina Isichei, Director of Research and Development, expressed delight at visit and assured Ghanaian officials of PTI’s readiness to establish mutually beneficial partnership capable of advancing petroleum industry expertise in both countries.

PTI Has Trained Over 50,000 Personnel — Isichei

Speaking at institute’s Council Chambers, Dr. Isichei described visit as welcomed development that will strengthen importance of regional solidarity, knowledge exchange and institutional cooperation in building stronger African oil and gas sector.

She recalled that PTI was established in 1972, approximately 54 years ago, as part of Nigeria’s efforts to develop technical manpower required to support its emergence as leading player in Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, and global petroleum industry.
“PTI is ready and glad to be of help to the Ghana National Petroleum Authority in every conceivable way, having gathered the expertise over the 54 years of the institute’s existence,” she said.

According to her, institute has trained more than 50,000 personnel over years, many of whom have become important contributors to oil and gas industry in Nigeria and other parts of world.

Four Pillars Behind PTI’s Enduring Reputation

Explaining factors responsible for institute’s enduring reputation, Dr. Isichei identified four major pillars underpinning PTI’s achievements: expertise, experience, exclusivity and effectiveness.

She stressed that institute’s emphasis on practical, hands-on training distinguished it as preferred destination for specialised petroleum education and technical skills acquisition.

She listed some of institute’s areas of strength to include welding and fabrication, drilling and well control, National Skills Qualification, NSQ, certification programmes, Skills Development Academy, firefighting training, underwater welding operations and research clusters.

She added that institute’s curriculum is certified by National Board for Technical Education, NBTE, reinforcing its commitment to recognised technical education standards.

Ghana Chooses Nigeria As Senior Partner — Dr. Joseph Wilson

In his response, leader of Ghanaian delegation, Dr. Joseph Wilson, Director of Research at Ghana’s National Petroleum Authority, conveyed greetings from Ghana to PTI academic community and people of Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“We are here basically to deepen capacity. For reasons having to do with regional solidarity, Ghana decided to choose Nigeria as a senior partner instead of looking outside the continental shelf of Africa,” he said.
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“Nigeria, being our big brother, became our desired destination for us to seek technical assistance to set up our own centre of excellence,” he added.
Dr. Wilson acknowledged that Ghana had much to learn from PTI’s decades of institutional experience, technical expertise and practical training capabilities.

He explained that delegation’s primary objective was to explore ways of deepening technical capacity across upstream and downstream segments of oil and gas industry including modalities for financing.

Tour Of Rig Operations And Flow Station

A major highlight of visit was guided tour of PTI’s specialised training facilities.

Leading delegation through rig operations facility, Director of Rig Operations, Engr. Lawrence Uti, explained workings of rig and demonstrated operational principles behind equipment used in drilling activities. He explained five major components of drilling in chronological order.

At flow station, Flow Station Director, Engr. Austin Ogugu, conducted visitors around facility and explained operational processes involved in handling crude oil and associated fluids, from wellhead and manifold to separators and designated gas, water and crude oil chambers.

Other members of Ghanaian delegation included Bridgette Obiri-Yeboah, Director, Licencing; Mohammed Issah of COMAC, Director of Policy; Eunice Budu Nyarko, Director of Commercial Services; and Sedinam Mammara, Director of Human Resources.

Others were Mudasiru Malana, Technical Aide; Saed Ubeidaleh, Head of Quality Control; Godwin Yan Konu, Director of Business Development; and George Sasu Afful, responsible for Talent Development.

For Ghana, engagement with PTI offers opportunity to draw on Nigeria’s established experience in petroleum training as it explores development of its own centre of excellence. For PTI, engagement presents opportunity to extend technical expertise beyond Nigeria and strengthen regional partnerships.

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