Explainer: Can Ghana’s new oil deals reverse years of declining production?
For years, Ghana’s oil industry was seen as one of the country’s biggest economic success stories. Commercial production began in 2010 after the discovery of the Jubilee Field, and output climbed rapidly as more fields came on stream.
Ghana's oil industry has been a significant economic success story, with commercial production commencing in 2010 after the discovery of the Jubilee Field. However, output has been declining rapidly, falling by nearly 48% from its 2019 peak of 71.44 million barrels in 2025. This decline is a major challenge for the country's upstream petroleum sector, especially as it seeks to attract new investment.
Recently, Ghana has signed new MoUs with international oil companies like Eni, Vitol, Shell, and Chevron, covering areas such as the GH-WB-03 and GH-WB-08 blocks in the Tano Basin, South Deepwater Tano-Cape Three Points, and other regions. While these agreements could potentially lead to new discoveries and increased production, they are not yet producing barrels of oil.
The process from signing an agreement to actual oil production involves various stages, including geological studies, drilling exploration wells, and regulatory approvals. Ghana's history with oil agreements shows that past deals have sometimes been delayed, terminated, or resulted in long exploration periods. Despite this, the decline in production is not necessarily indicative of exhausted resources, as there are still 14 active petroleum agreements, with only three producing fields currently driving the oil output.
Written by urgent.news from MyJoyOnline Ghana's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
