Ghana has not signed any new Petroleum Agreements (PAs) since 2018, signalling a continued decline in investor confidence in the country’s upstream oil and gas sector. This was revealed in the 2025 Semi-Annual Report of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), which monitors the management and use of petroleum revenues.
The report paints a picture of a sector struggling to regain momentum amid regulatory uncertainty, limited exploration, and subdued field development. According to PIAC, upstream activity slowed markedly during the first half of 2025, with only a single well drilled on the Jubilee Field. Operator Tullow Oil carried out no drilling at all on the Tweneboa-Enyenra-Ntomme (TEN) Field, one of Ghana’s flagship projects.
On the Sankofa-Gye Nyame (SGN) Field, the Italian energy company Eni conducted a sidetrack drilling operation on the existing SNKE-1X ST well. This followed the government’s approval of an amendment to the field’s development plan, allowing the operator to enhance well productivity and sustain output. While such interventions have helped stabilise short-term production, they underscore the absence of significant new exploration or field expansion activity.
Meanwhile, progress on major new projects remains stalled. Although the Plan of Development (PoD) for Pecan Energies’ Deepwater Cape Three Points block was approved in June 2023, the contractor has yet to reach a Final Investment Decision (FID) — a critical milestone for moving into full-scale development. The delay has been widely interpreted as a reflection of investor caution and uncertainty over Ghana’s evolving fiscal and regulatory framework.
Industry analysts note that Ghana’s once vibrant upstream petroleum sector — buoyed by the discovery of the Jubilee Field in 2007 and subsequent commercial production in 2010 — has entered a period of stagnation. Initial optimism that Ghana could emerge as a leading oil producer in West Africa has given way to concerns about declining reserves, limited exploration activity, and rising competition from neighbouring countries such as Côte d’Ivoire and Namibia, where new discoveries have recently been made.
The PIAC report attributes much of the slowdown to a combination of global and domestic factors. Internationally, the energy transition and tightening climate-related investment policies have dampened appetite for new oil and gas projects. Investors are increasingly prioritising jurisdictions with stable fiscal regimes, lower operational costs, and clear pathways to decarbonisation. Domestically, Ghana’s regulatory environment has been in flux, with the government currently reviewing its petroleum laws to make the sector more competitive and transparent.
The review of the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act and associated fiscal instruments is aimed at restoring investor confidence by addressing bottlenecks that have deterred exploration in recent years. According to PIAC, potential investors have expressed concerns about the licensing process, local content requirements, and contractual terms, all of which influence the commercial viability of projects.
In the absence of new Petroleum Agreements, Ghana’s production outlook is increasingly reliant on existing assets operated by Tullow, Eni, and Kosmos Energy. These mature fields are now past their peak output years, raising questions about the long-term sustainability of petroleum revenues, which continue to play a key role in the national budget.
PIAC’s findings also have fiscal implications. With limited new drilling activity and slower output growth, government revenue from royalties, corporate taxes, and carried interests could fall in the coming years. The committee warned that without fresh investment and exploration, Ghana risks missing out on potential discoveries that could replenish reserves and support energy security.
However, the government remains optimistic that its ongoing legislative reforms will help reposition the sector. The Ministry of Energy has been engaging stakeholders to streamline licensing processes, revise fiscal terms, and promote environmentally responsible exploration. Authorities have also signalled interest in leveraging Ghana’s emerging gas sector and renewable energy potential as part of a broader strategy to balance sustainability with economic growth.
For now, though, Ghana’s upstream oil sector remains in a holding pattern. With no new Petroleum Agreements signed in seven years and limited drilling activity across its three producing fields, the country faces a crucial test: whether it can modernise its regulatory environment quickly enough to attract the next wave of investment before existing reserves decline further.
If successful, Ghana could once again become a destination for upstream capital in West Africa. If not, the warning signs highlighted in PIAC’s report may deepen into a longer-term structural decline — one that could significantly curtail the petroleum revenues on which the country still heavily depends.
