As Ghana’s crude oil volumes tumble, an official cautioned has cautioned that the consistent decline threatens the future of the country’s petroleum industry.
Elizabeth Ardayfio-Schandorf, chairperson of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), the civil society accountability oversight body for the usage of Ghana’s petroleum revenue, gave this warning during the annual general assembly of the committee on Wednesday.
“Crude oil production declined for the fourth consecutive year in 2023. Production dropped from a high of 71.4 million barrels in 2019 to 48.2 million barrels in 2023,” Ardayfio-Schandorf pointed out.
However, during the year under review, Ghana received 1.06 billion U.S. dollars as petroleum revenue from upstream petroleum activities, added the chairperson.
The PIAC chairperson said the trend of decline over the past four years was due to the decline in output on current production fields and the lack of new petroleum agreements for exploration to enable fresh discoveries that would replace current production fields.
The official noted that Ghana had not signed any new petroleum agreements since 2018, underscoring the need to attract new investors into the country’s upstream petroleum sector to conduct exploration for possible new discoveries.
“The government and the relevant regulatory bodies should take the appropriate steps to reverse production decline on existing oil fields and ensure investments in unexploited fields,” Ardayfio-Schandorf urged.
Ghana commenced commercial crude oil production in December 2010, reaching a peak of over 71 million barrels in 2019, and has consistently declined since then to 48 million barrels in 2023.
The cumulative production as of the end of December 2023 is 608 million barrels, according to the 2023 annual report by PIAC.
PIAC is a citizen-led body, set up under Section 51 of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act to support the work of parliament in exercising oversight responsibility over the collection, allocation, and utilization of Ghana’s petroleum revenues.