A comparative analysis of the economic impact of the implementation of local content policies in Oil and Gas producing countries. Ghana and Norway

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2018 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: A, University of Bedfordshire, language: English, abstract: Most petroleum-producing countries have enacted local legislation and content to regulate international Oil and Gas companies. However, there is a dearth of literature focusing on local content policies. Due to the gap in the literature, the research focused on exploring the contents and the impacts of the LCP implementation in Norway and Ghana. These two petro-states have been chosen because they emphasis the contrast between a developing country which initially did not have the means to develop a regulatory framework for local content (Ghana) and a developed country which did (Norway).
The aim of the study was to determine the economic impact of the implementation of local content policies in Oil and Gas producing countries, using Ghana and Norway as examples.

There are a number of major conclusions from the research. First, very high minimum targets for local employment can lead to the creation of skill gaps in some areas while only achieving increases in some job categories; mostly the semi-skilled and the unskilled positions. Secondly, considering the unemployment, there appears to be no relationship between the unemployment percentage and the quality of the local content policies. Third, where National Oil Company takes the lead in the fostering of local content policies, better results are achieved in terms of skills transfer, increased local sourcing and better training programs. Moreover, mandatory cooperation through JVs and partnerships leads to greater technology spill over from the foreign companies to the local companies. Coupled with the above, higher government spending by there would be an increase in the local supply of both non-specialised and specialised products to the oil and gas industry. Finally, the successful LCPs require the provision of fiscal incentives to the local firms, as well as empowering the national oil company to foster technical skills transfer and fostering training. Moreover, some contextual situations such as political stability, HDI in terms of the educational attainment and R&D spending were linked to better outcomes of the LCPs.

Based on the findings and the analysis from the research, it is recommended that policy makers and legislators in countries that want to develop local content policies should focus on coordination and getting input from the oil and gas operators, provision of incentives to the local businesses