The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) has warned that Ghana’s declining oil production is leading to a significant drop in revenue from the oil and gas sector.
Although petroleum revenue typically comprises about 7% of government income, it remains crucial for the country’s economic growth.
During a consultative workshop in Accra on Wednesday, October 16, PIAC member Constantine K.M. Kudzedi highlighted that Ghana reached peak crude production in 2019 with 71,439,585 barrels, up from around 1.1 million barrels in 2010 and about 62 million barrels in 2018.
However, production has steadily declined: from 66,926,806 barrels in 2020, a 6.3% reduction, to 55,050,391 barrels in 2021, 51,756,481 barrels in 2022, and 48,247,036 barrels in 2023, marking year-on-year declines of 17.75%, 5.98%, and 6.78%, respectively.
“These figures for 2023 reflect a fourth consecutive year of declining output,” Kudzedi noted.
The outlook for Ghana’s upstream petroleum industry is increasingly uncertain. Persistent production issues, coupled with a lack of new field development and investment, threaten the sustainability of the sector.
Without strategic interventions, the decline could impact government revenues and the fair distribution of oil wealth, posing challenges for the nation’s economic stability.
