Ghana’s crude oil production declined for the fourth consecutive year in 2023, a report by the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) has said.
According to PIAC’s Annual Report on Petroleum Revenue Management, the country’s crude oil production reduced “from a high of 71.44 million barrels in 2019 to 48.25 million barrels in 2023.”
The decline represents an annual average of 9.2%
The report stated that of the 48 million barrels, 63% came from the Jubilee Fields, 23% from SGN and 14% from TEN.
“For the year 2023, a total of 48,247,036.61 barrels (bbls) was produced from the three producing fields; Jubilee – 30,444,217 bbls (63%); TEN – 6,716,278 bbls (14%) and SGN 11,086,541.61 bbls (23%).”
For raw gas, a total of 255,171.97 MMSCF was produced in 2023 from the SGN Field (127,203.02 MMSCF, 50%), Jubilee (77,900.05 MMSCF, 30%) and TEN Fields (50,068.90 MMSCF, 20%). The average achieved price by the Ghana Group for all three producing fields during the period under review was US$78.067/bbl.
RETRIEVE LOANS
PIAC has also asked the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) to retrieve loans given to government and its agencies.
According to PIAC, the government and its agencies owes the GNPC an outstanding loan and guarantees amounting to US$126.68million out of an accumulated total of US$318.09 million since 2011.
PIAC indicated that, “a total of US$1.23 billion is owed the Corporation as at the end of December 2023 due to additional payments and guarantees made by the Corporation.”
“GNPC needs to intensify its efforts to recover these loans and desist from issuing guarantees to SOEs. The Committee reiterates that the government should desist from taking loans from the Corporation,” the report added.
SOURCE: ASAASE RADIO