The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) has marked four decades of operations with a renewed focus on restoring petroleum production growth, expanding gas commercialisation, advancing exploration and strengthening its capacity to take on a greater operatorship role.
The Corporation outlined these priorities at its 3rd Annual General Meeting, held at the Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra, themed “40 Years of Resilience.”
The GNPC Board Chairman, Prof. Joseph Oteng-Adjei, highlighted the Corporation’s four-decade journey, which evolved from laying the foundation of Ghana’s petroleum industry to developing commercial discoveries and advancing operatorship.
“Each phase of this journey has been characterised by resilience, adaptability and an unwavering commitment to creating lasting value for Ghana,” he said.
Production challenges
Ghana recorded its fifth consecutive year of declining crude oil production in 2025. Average daily crude oil production from the Jubilee, TEN and Sankofa Gye Nyame fields stood at 102,199 barrels per day, while gas exports for domestic use reached approximately 336 MMscf/d, above the annual target of 325 MMscf/d.
Chief Executive, Kwame Ntow Amoah, said GNPC had responded to the difficult operating environment with targeted interventions aimed at the immediate challenges facing the sector.
“GNPC responded with disciplined execution, stronger focus, and targeted interventions to stabilise production, deepen gas commercialisation, advance exploration, and strengthen operatorship capability,” he said.
He said the results of those interventions began to show in the second half of 2025, with the steep decline in production being slowed.
US$3.5billion investment unlocked
A major development during the period was the extension of three Petroleum Agreements covering Deepwater Tano, West Cape Three Points and Offshore Cape Three Points. According to the Chief Executive, the extensions have unlocked US$3.5 billion of investment over the next three years.
Group revenue increased by 3.66 per cent to US$1.64 billion. Gas revenue reached US$952.38 million and accounted for 65.6 per cent of standalone revenue, confirming the growing importance of gas commercialisation to GNPC’s financial performance.
Progress was also recorded in exploration efforts, with the Eban-Akoma discoveries achieving declaration of commerciality, while preparations continued towards drilling an exploration well in the Voltaian Basin in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Minister calls for renewed investment
Addressing the AGM, the Minister for Energy and Green Transition, Dr John Abdulai Jinapor, commended the Corporation’s performance but said the petroleum sector must now move beyond resilience towards renewed investment and production growth.
“Government welcomes these achievements, but our focus must now shift from resilience to renewal, growth and long-term sustainability,” he said.
The Minister said Ghana’s mature producing fields would require increasingly sophisticated reservoir management, enhanced recovery, infill drilling and timely capital investment.
“Every barrel produced must increasingly be matched by new reserves,” he said.
He identified opportunities including Pecan, Eban-Akoma, Afina, Pecan North, Almond and Beech, as well as marginal and stranded resources, while calling for technically disciplined exploration of frontier areas such as the Voltaian Basin.
Dr Jinapor also reaffirmed the government’s support for strengthening GNPC’s operatorship capability, saying Ghana could not indefinitely depend on international operators for all aspects of upstream development.
Beyond its core petroleum operations, GNPC invested US$6.57 million in Corporate Social Investment programmes during 2025, covering education, healthcare, skills development, community infrastructure, economic empowerment and institutional capacity building.
Closing his presentation, Mr Ntow Amoah said GNPC’s direction beyond its 40-year milestone remained clear.
“Looking ahead, GNPC’s focus is clear: restore production growth, expand gas commercialisation, accelerate operatorship capability, unlock new resources and build a resilient institution capable of delivering sustainable value for Ghana,” he said.
