The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) has disclosed that Ghana’s crude oil production declined for the fourth consecutive year in 2023.
Professor Elizabeth Ardayfio-Schandorf, the Chairperson of PIAC, revealing this at a stakeholder engagement on Thursday in Accra, said production dropped from a high of 71.44 million barrels in 2019 to 48.25 million barrels in 2023, representing an annual average decline of 9.2%
She said PIAC has recommended to the government and the relevant regulatory bodies to take the appropriate steps to reverse production decline in existing fields and ensure investments in unexploited fields.
She said for the year 2023, a total of 48,247,036.61 barrels (bbls) were produced from the three producing fields, comprising Jubilee: 30,444,217 bbls, representing 63%; Tweneboa-Enyenra-Ntomme (TEN): 6,716,278 bbls, making 14%; and Sankofa Gye-Nyame (SGN): 11,086,541.61 bbls, contributing 23% of the total production.
“For raw gas, a total of 255,171.97 MMSCF was produced in 2023 from the SGN Field (127,203.02 million Standard Cubic Feet-MMSCF, 50%), Jubilee (77,900.05 MMSCF, 30%), and TEN Fields (50,068.90 MMSCF, 20%).”
The report stated that the average achieved price by the Ghana Group for all three producing fields during the period under review was US$78.067/bbl.
PIAC noted that the total revenue that was paid into the Petroleum Holding Fund (PHF) in 2023 was US$1,062,323,419.12, representing a 25.65% decrease from that of 2022, stating that Carried and Participating Interest (CAPI) continues to be the biggest contributor with 44.31%, followed by Corporate Income Tax (CIT) and Royalties with 34.38% and 20.67%, respectively.
The report found that the total proceeds from the Jubilee Oil Holdings Limited (JOHL) liftings received in 2023, amounting to US$70,456,718.93, were not paid into the PHF for the second consecutive year.
“This brings the cumulative proceeds of unpaid revenue into the PHF by JOHL to US$343,108,927.88 as at the end of 2023.”
Prof. Ardayfio-Schandorf said PIAC had reiterated its position that proceeds from liftings of JOHL and other subsidiaries of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) constituted petroleum revenues within the meaning of Section 6(e) of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, 2011 (Act 815) and Section 2 of the Petroleum Revenue Management (Amendment), 2015 (Act 893) and therefore must be paid into the Petroleum Holding Funds.
Touching on the allocation and utilisation of the petroleum revenue, PIAC reported that the total actual petroleum receipts for the period paid into the PHF were US$1,062,323,419.12.
“This was distributed with GNPC receiving US$245,588,510.58, Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA): US$485,971,963.64, and the GPFs: US$330,579,098.26,” the report stated.
Touching on the expiry of the priority areas for 2020 to 2022, it was noted by PIAC that new priority areas were selected for the utilisation of the ABFA for the period 2023 to 2025.
She explained that the selection of priority areas every three years had become necessary due to the absence of a long-term national development plan approved by Parliament.
It observed that since the coming into force of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA) in 2011, the use of the ABFA has been guided by a medium-term development strategy without a long-term national development plan approved by Parliament.
PIAC therefore recommended that the selection of the ABFA Priority Areas must be guided by a long-term national development plan approved by Parliament in conformity with the Act.
However, in 2022, production decreased from 55.05 million barrels in 2021 to 51.7 million barrels, representing a 5.98% drop. This trend has been ongoing since 2019, with an average annual decline of around 10%.
PIAC has emphasized the need for Ghana to attract new investments and expedite the completion of ongoing projects to reverse this declining trend and ensure sustainable development of its petroleum resources.
