“Ghana’s Oil Reserves Run Dry: Crude Production Falls Sharply”
Ghana's crude oil production saw a decrease of 6.78% in 2023, contributing to an average annual decline of 9.2% over the past four years, according to the Public Interest Accountability Committee's (PIAC) 2023 Annual Report on the Management and Use of Petroleum Revenue.
The report revealed that Ghana produced 48,247,036.61 barrels of oil in 2023, down from 51,756,481 barrels in 2022. This decline continues a trend from the peak production year of 2019, when 71,439,585 barrels were produced. Production fell to 66,926,806 barrels in 2020 (a 6.32% decline), 55,050,391 barrels in 2021 (a 17.75% decline), 51,756,481 barrels in 2022 (a 5.98% decline), and 48,247,036.61 barrels in 2023 (a 6.78% decline).
“The 2023 production figure represents the fourth consecutive year of reduction in annual production volumes since 2010,” the report noted.
Ghana’s crude oil is produced from three fields: Jubilee, TEN, and Sankofa Gye-Nyame (SGN). The Jubilee Field began production in December 2010, followed by TEN in August 2016 and SGN in May 2017.
In 2023, the Jubilee field accounted for 63% of the total crude oil production with 30,444,217 barrels, while the SGN field produced 11,086,541.61 barrels (23%) and the TEN field produced 6,716,278 barrels (14%).
Emerita Professor Ardayfio-Schandorf, Chairperson of PIAC, attributed the production decline to a lack of investment in discovering new fields and the natural ageing of existing fields, leading to reduced output.
In contrast, gas production saw a slight increase. A total of 255,171.97 million standard cubic feet (MMSCF) of raw gas, including both Associated Gas (AG) and Non-Associated Gas (NAG), was produced in 2023, up 0.64% from 253,555.05 MMSCF in 2022.
The SGN field, which is relatively gas-concentrated, produced the highest volume of combined AG and NAG with 127,203.02 MMSCF, while the Jubilee and TEN fields produced 77,900.05 MMSCF and 50,068.90 MMSCF, respectively.
