The country earned an amount of US$1.42billion as oil revenue for 2022, the highest since commercial production began in 2011, despite a 5.98 percent drop in production during the year under review.
The amount, which was contained in the 2022 Annual Report of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), represents an 82.3 percent increase in revenue from the US$783.32million recorded in 2021 from crude oil production of 55,050,391 barrels (bbls).
The astronomical increase in petroleum receipts is attributed to a surge in the benchmark price of the commodity on the international market, which closed at about US$68.17 per barrel in 2021 but reached US$100 per barrel by end of 2022, on the global market.
In the first half of 2022, geopolitical tensions which culminated in the Russia-Ukraine conflict contributed to the increase in crude oil prices.
Domestic crude oil production has been declining for three consecutive years. A volume of 71,439,585 barrels were produced in 2019, but declined to 66,926,806 barrels in 2020, representing a drop of 6.32 percent.
It further declined to 55,050,391 barrels in 2021 (17.75 percent) and then to 51,756,481 barrels in 2022 (5.98 percent). This means the average decline over the three years is 10 percent.
Out of the total crude oil production of 51.7 million barrels recorded, output from the Greater Jubilee was 30.5 million barrels, being 59 percent, whereas Sankofa-Gye Nyame (SGN) accounted for 12.6 million barrels, representing 24 percent, with the Tweneboa Enyenra-Ntomme (TEN) contributing 8.6 million barrels – 17 percent of the total output.
PIAC reiterated that “there is the need for Ghana to speed up the sustainable development of its petroleum resources to reverse the decline in petroleum production through the attraction of new investors as well as early completion of ongoing projects”.
Also, of the total petroleum receipts, carried and participating interest (CAPI) contributed the highest – US$733.8million, representing 51.3 percent; followed by corporate income tax (CIT) of US$388.8million, representing 27.2 percent; and royalties US$302.9million, 21.2 percent.
The rest are Petroleum Holding Fund (PHF) income of US$2.38million, which represents 0.16 percent; and surface rental of US$687,759.16, also representing 0.04 percent of the total petroleum revenue.
The 2022 Annual Report is the 23rd by the public watchdog over the use and management of petroleum revenues.
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