File photo of barrels of oil
The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) has called on the Ministry of Energy and its allied agencies to intensify efforts to attract investments into Ghana’s upstream petroleum industry.
This recommendation follows PIAC’s observation that no new petroleum agreements have been signed between the government and private companies in the sector since 2019.
According to the Committee’s 2024 Annual Report, crude oil production has been on a consistent decline for the fifth consecutive year.
Production dropped from a peak of 71.44 million barrels in 2019 to 48. 25 million barrels in 2024, representing an average annual decline of 7.4 per cent over the five-year period.
Richard Ellimah, a Member of PIAC representing Civil Society Organizations, stated that, “once we are not attracting investments into the sector, it means that production levels may also be affected because we are not getting any new companies to shore up production.”
“And if production levels keep dwindling that may also affect the government’s revenue, this is a serious matter because looking at the state of the economy now we cannot afford to be losing out on potential revenues from petroleum”, he submitted.
He made these remarks at a Regional Public Forum on the Management and Use of Ghana’s Petroleum Revenues in Kumasi.
Ellimah said for the government to attract investors, it could organize roadshows around the world selling Ghana as a very safe destination for petroleum investment.
Again, the government could engage the big shots in the petroleum industry around the world, adding that, “when we get them, we can be sure that going forward, we can ramp up production levels and revenues will also increase.”
In addition to investment promotion, PIAC recommended that the government should prioritize the construction of a second gas processing plant to expand the country’s capacity of taking up more raw gas.
Ellimah indicated that gas flaring remained a major issue, explaining that, Ghana’s Gas Policy mandated zero flaring which means no company is permitted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to flare any gas.
“When the news of the cabinet’s approval for construction of the second gas processing plant was announced, it was heartwarming. This means it will create avenues for us to utilize the gas that would otherwise have been flared. When you flare it creates environmental problems but once we use it, goes to promote our own economic development”, he emphasized.
According to the PIAC 2024 Annual Report, Ghana could not recover a Make Up Gas (MUG) volume of 1,186.81 MMSCF, which had already been paid for from the Sankofa Gye Nyame (SGN) Field in 2024.
This led to forfeiture of paid raw gas that could have been utilized.
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