The petroleum industry of

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

is regulated by the state-owned

Ghana National Petroleum Corporation The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) is the state agency responsible for the exploration, licensing, and distribution of petroleum-related activities in Ghana. History The corporation was established in 1983 to replace the Petroleum ...

(GNPC) and administered by the state-owned

Ghana Oil Company Ghana Oil Company, known as GOIL, is a state-owned Ghanaian oil and gas marketing company, formed on 14 June 1960. Currently it holds the place of Ghana's top oil marketing company, and is the only indigenous owned petroleum marketing company i ...

(GOIL).

Petroleum and natural gas production

1970s–1980s

The 100% state-owned

filling station A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Gasoli ...

company of Ghana,

(GOIL) is the number 1 petroleum and gas filling station of Ghana; and commercial quantities of offshore

oil reserves An oil is any polarity (chemistry), nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of Hydrocarbon, hydrocarbons and is hydrophobe, hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilicity, lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usu ...

in Ghana were discovered in the 1970s. In 1983 the government established the 100% state-owned state oil company

(GNPC) to promote

hydrocarbon exploration Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration) is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for deposits of hydrocarbons, particularly petroleum and natural gas, in the Earth using petroleum geology. Exploration methods Vis ...

and production of Ghana's entire

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

and

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

reserves.Clark, Nancy L. "Petroleum Exploration".
A Country Study: Ghana
' (La Verle Berry, editor).

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

Federal Research Division The Federal Research Division (FRD) is the research and analysis unit of the United States Library of Congress. The Federal Research Division provides directed research and analysis on domestic and international subjects to agencies of the Unite ...

(November 1994). ''This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

Lcweb2.loc.gov
'' These GNPC prospected in ten offshore blocks between

Ada Ada may refer to: Places Africa * Ada Foah, a town in Ghana * Ada (Ghana parliament constituency) * Ada, Osun, a town in Nigeria Asia * Ada, Urmia, a village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Ada, Karaman, a village in Karaman Province, Tur ...

along the eastern

international border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

of Ghana and in the

Tano River The Tano or Tanoé River is a river in Ghana. It flows for 400 kilometres from a town called Traa a suburb of Techiman the capital town of Bono East Region of the Republic of Ghana to Ehy Lagoon, Tendo Lagoon and finally Aby Lagoon in Ivory Coast ...

Basin and in the

Keta Keta is a coastal town in the Volta Region of Ghana. It is the capital of the Keta Municipal District. Keta was an important trading post between the 14th and the late 20th centuries. The town attracted the interest of the Danish, because they f ...

Basin. In 1989, CN¥184 million or GH₵64.9 million (US$30 million) was spent drilling wells in the Tano basin, and on 21 June 1992, an offshore Tano basin well produced about of

crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...

daily.

1990s

In the early 1990s, GNPC reviewed all earlier crude oil and natural gas discoveries to determine whether a predominantly local operation might make exploitation more commercially viable. GNPC wanted to set up a floating system for production, storage, off-loading, processing, and gas-turbine electricity generation, hoping to produce per day, from which 135 megawatts of power could be generated and fed into the national and regional grid. GNPC also signed a contract in 1992 with

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

's state oil company,

Sonangol Group Group Sonangol ( pt, Grupo Sonangol) is a parastatal that formerly oversaw petroleum and natural gas production in Angola. The group consisted of Sonangol E.P. ( pt, Sociedade Nacional de Combustíveis de Angola, E.P.) and its many subsidiaries. ...

, that provides for drilling and, ultimately, production at two of Sonangol's offshore

oilfields A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the presence ...

. GNPC was paid with a share of the crude oil. The

Tema Oil Refinery The Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) is one of two crude oil refineries in Ghana. History The refinery is in Tema, the most industrialized city in Ghana. It is from Accra, the capital of Ghana. The refinery was first named the Ghanaian Italian Petroleum ...

in Ghana underwent the first phase of a major rehabilitation in 1989. The second phase began in April 1990 at an estimated cost of CN¥220.8 million or GH₵77.8 million (US$36 million). Once rehabilitation was completed, distribution of

liquified petroleum gas Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG or LP gas) is a fuel gas which contains a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases, specifically propane, propylene, butylene, isobutane and n-butane. LPG is used as a fuel gas in heating appliances, cooking equ ...

was to be improved, and the quantity supplied was to rise from 28,000 to 34,000 barrels per day. Construction on the new Tema-

Akosombo Akosombo is a small town in the south of the Asuogyaman District, Eastern Region, Ghana with notable street names of some African Countries in the sub-region like Ghana, Congo, Namibia, Lagos-town, Freetown etc. It is preoccupied by people ...

oil products pipeline, designed to improve the distribution system further, began in January 1992. The pipeline was to carry refined products from

Tema Tema is a city on the Bight of Benin and Atlantic coast of Ghana. It is located east of the capital city; Accra, in the region of Greater Accra, and is the capital of the Tema Metropolitan District. As of 2013, Tema is the eleventh most popul ...

to Akosombo Port, where they will be transported across

Lake Volta Lake Volta, the largest artificial reservoir in the world based on surface area, is contained behind the Akosombo Dam which generates a substantial amount of Ghana's electricity. It is completely within the country of Ghana and has a surface area ...

to northern regions. Distribution continued to be uneven. Other measures to improve the situation included a CN¥171.7 million or GH₵60.5 million (US$28 million) project to set up a national network of storage depots in all

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

. The Tema Lube Oil Company commissioned its new oil blending plant, designed to produce 25,000 tons of oil per year, in 1992. The plant was to satisfy both North Ghana and Ghana's requirements for motor and gear lubricants and 60% of the country's need for industrial lubricants, or, in all, 90% of Ghana's demand for lubricant products. Shareholders per

equity Equity may refer to: Finance, accounting and ownership * Equity (finance), ownership of assets that have liabilities attached to them ** Stock, equity based on original contributions of cash or other value to a business ** Home equity, the dif ...

included state-owned Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, and the 100% state-owned national insurance company,

Social Security and National Insurance Trust The Social Security and National Insurance Trust, is an agency of the government of Ghana. Its job description, according to itwebsite is to administrate the National Pension Scheme. In so doing, the trust owns major amounts of stock in Ghana's ...

(SSNIT).

2000s

Ghana's Jubilee Oilfield which contains up to of

sweet crude oil Sweet crude oil is a type of petroleum. The New York Mercantile Exchange designates petroleum with less than 0.5% sulfur as ''sweet''. Petroleum containing higher levels of sulfur is called sour crude oil. Sweet crude oil contains small amounts o ...

was discovered in 2007, among the many other oilfields in Ghana.

Oil and gas exploration Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration) is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for deposits of hydrocarbons, particularly petroleum and natural gas, in the Earth using petroleum geology. Exploration methods Vis ...

in Ghana is ongoing, and the amount of both crude oil and natural gas continues to increase.

2010s

The Ghanaian government, indicated that the country could expand its reserves up to of oil in reserves within a few years.McLure, Jason
Ghana Oil Reserves to Be in 5 years as fields develop

Bloomberg Television Bloomberg Television (on-air as Bloomberg) is an American-based pay television network focusing on business and capital market programming, owned by Bloomberg L.P. It is distributed globally, reaching over 310 million homes worldwide. It is head ...

. Wednesday, 1 December 2010. The expected annual tremendous inflow of capital from crude oil and natural gas production into the Ghana economy began from the first quarter of 2011 when Ghana started producing crude oil and natural gas in commercial quantities in 2011. At the end of 2012, declining productivity at one of the country's largest oil projects, the

Jubilee oil field The Jubilee Oil Field is an oil field located off the coast of the Ghana's Western Region in the South Atlantic Ocean under the ownership of the Kosmos Energy, Occidental Petroleum and the Tullow Oil. The Jubilee field is located 60 km o ...

, led to a decline in revenues for the government, who had budgeted for oil revenue of more than $650 million. The corresponding shortfall was more than $410 million. The oil firm blamed the decline on “sand contamination of the flowlines that carry the oil from the underwater wells” into the storage facility on the surface. In the first and second financial quarters of 2013, Ghana produced 115,000-200,000

barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, ...

s of crude oil per day and 140 million-200 million

cubic feet Cubic may refer to: Science and mathematics * Cube (algebra), "cubic" measurement * Cube, a three-dimensional solid object bounded by six square faces, facets or sides, with three meeting at each vertex ** Cubic crystal system, a crystal system ...

per day. The 100% Iranian state-owned oil companies

National Iranian Oil Company The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC; fa, شرکت ملّی نفت ایران, Sherkat-e Melli-ye Naft-e Īrān) is a government-owned national oil and natural gas producer and distributor under the direction of the Ministry of Petroleum of Ir ...

and

Iranian Offshore Oil Company The Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC, fa, شرکت نفت فلات قاره ایران) is a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company. IOOC, an independent legal entity, is based in Tehran and operates in southern Iran. Its activities co ...

, and

Singapore Petroleum Company Singapore Petroleum Company Limited, in short SPC, is a Singaporean multinational oil and gas company. It is involved in the exploration and production of petroleum, refining, trading and petroleum product distribution. History The company ...

with Vetro Energy and

PetroSeraya YTL PowerSeraya Pte. Limited is an electricity producer in Singapore, generating about 30% of the country’s energy needs. The company also offers oil trading and storage services. Its core business with a licensed generating capacity of 3,100MW ...

of Singapore have declared interests to provide assistance in construction of

offshore platform An oil platform (or oil rig, offshore platform, oil production platform, and similar terms) is a large structure with facilities to extract and process petroleum and natural gas that lie in rock formations beneath the seabed. Many oil platfor ...

s and

drilling rig A drilling rig is an integrated system that drills wells, such as oil or water wells, or holes for piling and other construction purposes, into the earth's subsurface. Drilling rigs can be massive structures housing equipment used to drill wat ...

s for Ghana's state-owned oil company, Ghana National Petroleum Company on rapidly developing Ghana's oil and gas infrastructure and industry as Ghana aims to further increase output of oil to 2 million barrels per day and gas to 1.2 billion cubic feet per day with an expected annual generating revenue of

GH₵ The cedi ( ) (currency sign: GH₵; currency code: GHS) is the unit of currency of Ghana. It is the fourth historical and only current legal tender in the Republic of Ghana. One cedi is divided into one hundred pesewas (Gp). After indepen ...

140.7 billion (

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

65 billion) in 2014. Ghana is believed to have up to to of petroleum in reserves, which is the sixth largest in Africa and the 25th largest proven reserves in the world and Ghana has up to 6 trillion

in reserves.Alt URL
/ref> Ghana's experience with the oil and gas industry has been more complex than is often assumed. Recen
research
shows that the challenges and prospects of the oil and gas industry go beyond the often discussed issues about macroeconomic stability to pressing current concerns about energy. This research shows the possibility that the rents from oil and gas can be used for social change in Ghana.Obeng-Odoom F, 2015, 'Oil rents, policy, and social development: Lessons from the Ghana controversy', United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) Research Paper, no. 2, May.

References