Energy analyst Benjamin Nsiah has called for an urgent policy overhaul in Ghana’s upstream petroleum sector following a steep decline in crude oil receipts and overall petroleum revenues, raising concerns about falling production levels, weak investor interest and future cash flows.
Speaking in an interview on Accra-based Citi FM’s Citi Business News monitored by NR NEWS, Mr Nsiah said the latest official data points to one of the worst performances in Ghana’s petroleum upstream in recent years.
Figures from the official sector show that crude oil lifting receipts dropped sharply to $198.25 million in the second half of 2025, compared to $369.25 million over the same period in 2024 — a decline of more than 46 per cent.
The fall mirrors a broader downturn in upstream activity. According to Nsiah, Ghana’s total petroleum revenue declined from about $1.3 billion in 2024 to $769 million in 2025, representing a contraction of approximately 43 per cent.
“The 2025 petroleum revenue is one of the worst performances in our petroleum upstream,” Nsiah said, warning that the numbers reflect deeper structural challenges within the sector.
He attributed the downturn largely to reduced exploration and field development activities, which have dampened production and discouraged new investments.
“It is worrying and it must be very troubling to us industrial players in the petroleum upstream. We need critical and very intentional interventions to attract the needed investment for exploratory and developmental activities,” he said.
Nsiah, who is also the Executive Director of the Centre for Environmental Management and Sustainable Energy (CEMSE), argued that Ghana’s revenue problems are increasingly driven by declining production volumes rather than fluctuations in global oil prices.
“Price may not be in our favour. But if we are able to produce more, output will be in our favour. And such output, even at a constant or stable price, brings in more revenue,” he explained.
He noted that upstream output has fallen significantly over the past few years.
“An upstream that was doing around 70 million barrels is now doing around 35 million barrels,” Nsiah said, describing the trend as evidence of Ghana’s inability to attract substantial new investments since 2019.
To reverse the decline, Nsiah called for strong strategic leadership from the Ministry of Energy and Green Transition, particularly in empowering the Petroleum Commission to review regulatory frameworks and investment strategies.
“The strategic vision must come from the ministry on how they can equip the Petroleum Commission to revise certain strategies or regulatory practices that will entice investors into our petroleum upstream,” he said, adding that the sector is “almost near comatose.”
He further cautioned that prolonged weakness in upstream performance could adversely affect the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), whose financial sustainability depends largely on petroleum revenues.
“GNPC’s main source of revenue comes from our petroleum processes. If the sector is not doing well, it will negatively impact GNPC’s ability to contribute to cash calls and to mobilise resources for exploration in the Volta Basin and other offshore activities,” he warned.
Without renewed investment in well development and frontier exploration, Nsiah said Ghana risks a downward spiral in production and state revenues.
“If we are not able to develop our wells and explore more oil, our outputs will continue to decline. When output falls, revenue also falls, and GNPC will suffer in the medium term — which I don’t think Ghanaians want to see,” he added.
