Ghana saved GH¢3.08 billion, equivalent to US$268.5 million, in fuel costs during the first half of 2026 by displacing expensive light crude oil with cheaper natural gas for electricity generation, Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson told Parliament in the 2026 Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review, as Government pressed ahead with a broader reset of the upstream oil and gas sector.
Gas supply for power generation rose by an additional 35 million standard cubic feet per day by the end of June 2026, lifting total supply to about 490 million standard cubic feet per day, comprising 10 million from the Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) partners led by Eni and 25 million from N-Gas. The minister said the Gas-to-Power Strategy is expected to cut electricity generation costs by “at least 75 percent” once fully realised.
The gains come alongside a reversal in upstream fortunes. Crude oil production had declined sharply from 71.4 million barrels in 2019 to about 36 million barrels in 2025, but investor-friendly reforms have since secured more than US$3.5 billion in new investment commitments from the Jubilee and OCTP partners.
Jubilee output has risen from a projected 68,000 barrels per day to about 95,000, while Sankofa is producing roughly 28,000 barrels daily. Gas output has climbed from 245 million to about 282 million standard cubic feet per day, with a new OCTP agreement set to push production to 350 million. Amendments to the laws governing the upstream petroleum sector are expected to reach Parliament before year-end.
The government is also advancing two large capital projects to secure gas processing and power capacity. A 100 million standard cubic feet per day modular gas processing facility, developed with private sector partners, has completed land acquisition, with environmental assessment, engineering design and financial due diligence underway; financial close is targeted before the end of 2026, with the project estimated to create nearly 1,000 jobs and generate about US$2 billion in state benefits over five years.
Separately, a 1,200-megawatt state-owned combined-cycle gas-fired power plant at Kafodzidzi-Abrobeano in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem Municipality has cleared feasibility studies, with its first 600-megawatt phase expected to be commissioned in 2028.
The government has secured gas turbines directly from GE Vernova, achieving savings of between 35 and 45 percent compared with third-party procurement, a step the minister said will help cut electricity tariffs by 10 to 20 percent while creating more than 2,000 direct and indirect jobs during the plant’s first phase. The projects mark a coordinated push to convert gas abundance into lower generation costs across the economy.
