Gov’t targets petroleum upstream recovery after five years of consecutive decline

The Ministry of Energy has projected a major turnaround for Ghana’s upstream petroleum sector, forecasting a decisive rebound in crude oil production after five consecutive years of a worrying decline in output.

The state has subsequently rolled out a series of aggressive structural measures designed to strengthen the resilience of the wider energy sector while simultaneously pulling in critical foreign direct investment to jumpstart stagnant oil and gas fields.

The Energy Minister, Mr John Jinapor, dropped the hint during President John Dramani Mahama’s high-profile “Resetting Ghana” citizens’ engagement tour in the Savannah Region on Saturday, 23 May 2026.

Addressing local chiefs, youth groups, and industry stakeholders, the Minister explained that recent capital-intensive investment frameworks executed by the state would directly boost operational output and reverse the chronic downward trend that has plagued national crude numbers since 2021.

The $3.5 Billion Injection

To demonstrate the government’s commitment to reviving the sector, Mr Jinapor disclosed that the state has successfully secured two monumental financial agreements aimed at expanding existing infrastructure and exploring new offshore blocks.

The first is a $1.5 billion Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with Italian energy conglomerate Eni. This is paired with an additional $2 billion development agreement clinched with the Jubilee Partners.

These twin investments, totalling $3.5 billion, are engineered to breathe fresh life into the country’s upstream petroleum sector, finance deep-water drilling technologies, and support a comprehensive recovery in national production levels.

Confronting the structural deficit head-on, the Energy Minister delivered a firm assurance to the nation regarding the immediate future of Ghana’s oil fields:

“For five consecutive years, petroleum production has been declining. This year, let me assure you, petroleum production is not going to decline. It’s going to pick up and rise again,” Mr Jinapor stated confidently.

Navigating Systemic Reforms

The Minister conceded that while the broader energy sector continues to present complex, deep-seated economic challenges, the current administration’s ongoing institutional reforms and new capital injections are finally beginning to yield positive results.

The massive capital injection from Eni and the Jubilee Partners is expected to significantly augment the state’s fiscal space through increased oil royalties, corporate taxes, and job creation within the local content supply chain.

With the Savannah Region engagement serving as the platform for the announcement, independent energy analysts are already looking forward to the mid-year production data from the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) to verify the initial impact of these multibillion-dollar interventions on the national grid.

المصدر: MyJoyOnline (GH)