Abstract
The need to develop and boost the potentials of Ghana’s upstream oil and gas activities has been advocated by policymakers, academics, and financial institutions since the discovery of oil and gas in commercial quantities. It has been argued that if well implemented, upstream activities have a trickledown effect on the local content policy linkages that apart from taxes, can lead to improved financial and social benefits. In this study, how Ghana can use local content policy in upstream oil and gas operations to maximum economic and social benefits for the good of the Ghana government, citizens, and the Multinational Oil Companies, is the main question to be answered? To address this question, comprehensive analysis of local content laws and policies and stakeholder consultations are conducted. The paper argues that an effective local content policy towards achieving sustainability in the upstream oil and gas industry demands balancing the needs of policymakers, local communities, Multinational Oil Companies, and regulators to succeed. The study recommends a local content implementation master plan; active participation of key stakeholders (government, citizens and Multinational Oil Companies); and integration of forward and backward linkages in the implementation of Ghana’s upstream local content laws and policies.
Highlights
Resource-rich developing countries are seeking ways to deepen the economic linkages between their extractive sectors and economic development
Since Multinational Oil Companies (MOCs) operating in developing countries are mostly foreign-owned and largely profit-driven, it has been argued that LCPs offer better opportunities for leveraging petroleum resources to promote active industrialization programmes and stimulate sustainable economic growth for the host country [5]
LCPs could coordinate through value chain analysis that can facilitate the competitive participation of domestic firms in the local petroleum industry [20] and sustainable benefits for the stakeholders
Summary
Resource-rich developing countries are seeking ways to deepen the economic linkages between their extractive sectors and economic development. Many oil-producing developing countries are implementing LCPs intending to maximise the potential of their upstream oil and gas sectors. The Ghanaian government, with an initial aim of maximising royalties and taxes, adopted a ‘revenuefocused approach’ to oil resource management This was seen as short-sighted because it ignored the potential long-term value addition to the economy [2, 3]. Adapting the local content implementation and development conceptual framework of [9], the study analysed upstream oil and gas industry LCPs and the trickledown effects on the LC framework in Ghana. The paper’s point of departure is the observation that the LCP sector in Ghana, as it currently stands, needs improvement [10], as [5] noted, despite Ghana’s passage of the local content law, the development of linkages to the economy to capture the direct and indirect impact in the local economy remains a challenge.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
