Ghana is set to produce a total of 57.3 million barrels of oil from the three producing fields in 2021. This translates into a daily average of 156,986 barrels of oil. The three oil-producing fields comprise Jubilee, TEN, and SGN fields. Compared to the total oil produced from the three fields last year, the projections for 2021 are 14.4 percent lower.

Recent data from the finance ministry show that Ghana produced a total of 66.93 million barrels of oil from January to December 2020. This translated into an average daily oil production of 182,860.13 barrels. The country obtained its oil from the three producing fields.

Also, the government has set a target to produce 93.07 billion standard cubic feet of export gas in 2021. This also means a daily average of 254,986.30 million standard cubic feet of gas.

However, the total target for gas production in 2021 is higher than the total amount produced last year. In 2020, total gas production was 88,530.61 million standard cubic feet (MMscf). This, according to the Ministry of Finance, translated into an average daily gas export of 241.89 MMscf. The Finance Ministry noted in the 2021 Budget Statement that the gas was delivered for power generation and non-power gas users.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance has pledged to continue the negotiation of Petroleum Agreements and monitor activities on the fields.

Oil revenue targets for 2021

The Government of Ghana is hoping to realize about US$886 million as petroleum revenue for 2021. This is made up of Royalties of US$201.0 million and Carried and Participating Interest of US$524.9 million. Other sources include Corporate Income Tax of US$158.5 million and Surface Rentals of US$1.30 million.

The government has proposed to allocate US$283.00 million to Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) in 2021. This amount is to be used for its Equity Financing Cost of US$179.33 million. Also, the share of the net Carried and Participating Interest will receive US$103.67 million. This is per the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA).

Other allocations include the Ghana Petroleum Fund which is set to receive US$180.81 million of the Benchmark revenue. Out of this amount, the government will spend US$126.57 million on the Ghana Stabilisation Fund and US$54.24 million on the Ghana Heritage Fund.

Development of a Petroleum Hub

The government is still committed to making Ghana a Petroleum Hub. The finance ministry stated in the 2021 budget that it will ensure the setup and operationalization of the Petroleum Hub Development Corporation. This seeks to capitalize on the Petroleum Hub Corporation Bill passed by Parliament into law on 23rd October 2020. In 2021, the government plans to continue reparatory activities towards the development of the Hub. Such activities include the conduct of a strategic environmental assessment, spatial planning, and land acquisition.

Crude Oil Export receipts

Recent data from the Bank of Ghana show that oil export receipts are still below the pre-COVID level. However, the recent uptick in the price of crude oil in the world market has started reflecting in the county’s export of the commodity.

Surprisingly, oil export receipts declined from US$2,910.6 million in December 2020 to as low as US$268.0 million in January 2021. But the good news is that oil export has begun to pick up considerably. The Bank of Ghana revealed that oil export has risen to 505.9 million in February 2021.

The fall in oil price due to the disruptions in supply chains and low demand affected oil revenues in 2020. Data from the central bank show that crude oil exports declined sharply by 35.2 percent in 2020.