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The Minister of Petroleum, Mr Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah has stated that the government will ensure sustained exploration and production activities in the country�s oil and gas sector. The move, he said, was to strengthen and maximise the utilisation of such natural resources for development. The minister was speaking at a seminar for members of the Western Regional House of Chiefs to equip the traditional rulers on the issues relating to the oil and gas industry. Content & why The engagement, he said, was to equip the traditional rulers in the Western Region with knowledge so that they can understand the local content law and help them to identify opportunities available to their people and the nation. The chiefs were given the overview of the Petroleum and Exploration Bill 2014. They were also taken through exploration history, current acreage positions, upstream petroleum activities, regulatory development, institutional arrangements and country profile among others issues. Mr Buah said it was important that the chiefs were equipped to ensure that they were in a position to relate with all stakeholders in the industry and more importantly become agents of change at the community levels. Voltarian Basin To show commitment to the need for sustained exploration and development, he said the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) had intensified its exploration activities in the Volta Basin, which had proved to be one of the largest onshore resources yet to be tapped. The minister told the chiefs that there were a number of policy interventions, legislation and regulations in line with the government�s medium term strategies, which included the development exploration and production bill and the local content regulations. Health & Safety He said the ministry was currently involved in the drafting of other important legislative instruments on health safety and environment, fiscal metering, data management and general petroleum regulations. Mr. Buah assured the chiefs that those pieces of legislation would give better effects to existing petroleum laws in its day-to-day application. Remarks The chiefs and representatives from all the paramouncies said the seminar had given them the opportunity to have insights into the oil industry.