Ghana’s total petroleum receipts declined sharply to US$770.27 million in 2025, representing a 43.27 percent drop from the US$1.36 billion recorded in 2024 and the lowest level in the past five years.
The latest figures highlight mounting challenges in the country’s upstream petroleum sector, including falling crude production, declining global oil prices, and operational setbacks across key oil fields.
Data from the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) shows that crude oil production fell for the sixth consecutive year to 37.3 million barrels in 2025—down significantly from the 71.44 million barrels peak recorded in 2019.
Output declines were recorded across all major producing fields. The Jubilee Field saw a steep drop of 30.3 percent, while production at the Tweneboa-Enyenra-Ntomme (TEN) Field fell by 14 percent. The Sankofa Gye Nyame (SGN) Field also recorded a 3.6 percent decline.
In addition to falling output, technical challenges, including a 13-day shutdown at Jubilee, and weaker global oil prices further weighed on total petroleum receipts.
The sharp revenue decline resulted in a significant shortfall against government expectations. Actual petroleum receipts fell well below the revised budget projection of US$1.01 billion for 2025, raising concerns about fiscal planning and revenue reliability.
PIAC has flagged a critical slowdown in upstream investment, noting that no new Petroleum Agreements have been signed since 2018. This lack of fresh capital inflows has limited Ghana’s ability to offset declining production from ageing oil fields.
The committee also raised concerns about its own operational capacity following recent legislative changes under Act 1138, which removed its funding from the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA). The move has reportedly reduced PIAC’s budget by nearly 80 percent, potentially weakening oversight of the petroleum sector.
Further compounding concerns, PIAC reported that Explorco, a subsidiary of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), failed to account for more than US$561 million in unremitted revenue between 2022 and 2024.
Revenue Composition and Allocations
In terms of revenue composition, corporate income tax contributed approximately US$346 million, while crude oil exports accounted for about US$416 million of total receipts.
Despite the overall decline, petroleum revenue distributed in the second half of 2025 reached US$493.40 million, supported by accumulated reserves and other income sources.
The Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) received the largest share at US$285.06 million to support government projects. The Ghana Stabilisation Fund (GSF) and Ghana Heritage Fund (GHF) were allocated US$115.99 million and US$49.71 million, respectively.
The GNPC received US$42.63 million to finance its equity participation in oil operations.
According to the Bank of Ghana, Brent crude prices declined from US$66.61 per barrel to US$60.81 by the end of 2025, further impacting revenue performance.
As of December 31, 2025, Ghana’s total petroleum funds stood at approximately US$1.55 billion, with the Ghana Heritage Fund accounting for about US$1.38 billion of that amount.