Ghana's oil sector calls for urgent reforms to boost production

This appeal was made during a recent two-day technical workshop in Accra, organized by the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Energy, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Petroleum Commission, Ghana National Gas Limited, and academic partners, including Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

A communique issued at the workshop highlighted the dual challenges of natural resource depletion and underinvestment, worsened by evolving global energy policies that discourage heavy fossil fuel reliance.

Participants identified a lack of high-quality technical data and equipment limitations as significant operational obstacles and pointed to insufficient collaboration between the industry and academia, which has hindered research and innovation.

To address these issues, the stakeholders outlined several recommendations. They emphasized creating a “transparent and predictable framework” for licensing and regulatory practices to attract foreign and local investment.

Enhancing public-private partnerships was seen as vital for infrastructure expansion in both the upstream and downstream sectors. The communique further advised that revisiting Ghana’s Gas Master Plan could enable the country to leverage its underutilized natural gas resources, strengthening energy security and diversifying national revenue streams.

In addition, stakeholders recommended advanced oil recovery techniques for mature oil fields and integrating renewable energy sources with oil and gas operations to achieve long-term sustainability. Improved data access through a centralized repository was suggested to drive data-informed decisions and boost technical efficiency across the sector.

Governance reforms at the GNPC were also proposed to align the corporation more closely with its core mandate, alongside calls for continued dialogue among government, industry players, and civil society to maintain transparency and accountability in decision-making.

PIAC’s 2023 report had previously flagged the declining production trend as a threat to Ghana’s fiscal stability and petroleum revenue management. This workshop highlighted that, without timely intervention, Ghana risks exacerbating future revenue shortfalls, underscoring the urgency of implementing these recommended reforms.

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