Dr. Joe Oteng-Adjei, Minister for Energy, led a government delegation to join the Government and people of Trinidad and Tobago to commemorate Emancipation Day celebrations on Sunday August 1. A statement issued in Accra yesterday and signed by Mr. Hilton John Mitchell, Honorary Consul of Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in Accra, said other members of the delegation included Mr. Thomas Manu, Director of Operations. It said Dr. Oteng-Adjei delivered a special message from President John Evans Atta Mills during a courtesy call on Mrs. Kamla Persad Bissessar, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. The statement said the delegation held bilateral talks with Premier and Senator Carolyn Seepersad Bachan, Minister for Energy and Energy Industries, on Trinidad and Tobago's continuous support for the development of Ghana's gas sector. Dr. Oteng-Adjei pointed out that from the recent discoveries in the Jubilee Oil Field; Ghana has become a major oil and gas country. "The discoveries indicate that the field contains expected recoverable reserves of about 800 million barrels of light crude oil with an upside potential of about three billion barrels," he added. The Energy Minister pledged government's commitment to encourage industry practitioners in the sector to share ideas with their counterparts in Trinidad and Tobago to improve local content participation. Mrs. Bissessar acknowledged the mutually beneficial relationship that has existed between the two countries over the years. "It is thoughtful of Ghana to send a delegation to reassure the new government of the continued cordial relations between them," she added. Mrs. Bissessar assured Ghana of her country's support in developing the nation's nascent oil and gas industry. Mr. Manu observed that the issue of local content and participation, which has recently gained prominence internationally, is key to any oil producing country seeking to maximise benefits from its oil resources. "The huge value they can bring to oil and gas producing community provides compelling reasons for the development and enactment of a local content and participation policy in Ghana," he added. Trinidad and Tobago lie in the Caribbean Sea off the northeast coast of Venezuela. It practices Parliamentary democracy and has been producing oil for the past 100 years. She ventured into the field of gas in the last 50 years, and currently the world's largest producer of ammonia fertiliser and methanol.