Ghana’s annual crude oil production has declined from 55.05 million barrels (bbl) in 2021 to 51.7 million bbl in 2022, representing a 5.98% decrease.
The 2022 actual output represents 87% of the 2022 Benchmark crude oil output of 59.51 million barrels. The relatively lower production volume in 2022 was due to reduced production on the TEN and SGN fields. The productions were obtained mainly from three oil fields, thus Jubilee field, Sankofa Gye Nyame and TEN field.
The Jubilee Field contributed about 60% of the total output with production on the Jubilee field increasing by 11.7% from the 2021 output of 27,335,481 bbls to 30,523,813 bbls in 2022.
The increased production was due to the successful drilling and completion campaign of three wells. The TEN Field’s production declined by 28 percent from 11.9 million bbls in 2021 to 8.6 million bbls in 2022 due to technical challenges on the Enyenra reservoir.
The SGN Field recorded a reduced output of 12.6 million bbls in 2022 compared to 15.7 million bbls in 2021, a reduction of 19.8%.
The cumulative oil production from 2010 to 2022 now stands at 560,194,571 bbls,
The 2022 production figure represents the third consecutive year of reduction in annual production volumes since 2010 with an average decline over the three years of 10%.
The shortfall in production was however compensated for with the general rise in crude oil prices on the world market as the total petroleum revenues increased from US$783 million in 2021 to 1.4 billion dollars in 2022 (82.4%), making it the highest since the inception of crude oil production.
Addressing members of IFEJ, PIAC media, and the Parliamentary Press Corp on the 2022 PIAC annual report in Tegbi near Keta, the Vice Chairman of PIAC, Nasir Alfa Mohammed, indicated that there is a need for Ghana to fastrack the sustainable development of its petroleum resources to reverse the decline in petroleum production through the attraction of new investors as well as early completion of ongoing projects.
“Crude oil production has been declining for three consecutive years at an average of 10%, there is therefore the need for government to Ghana speed up the sustainable development of its petroleum resources to reverse the decline,” Alfa said.