Ghana provides update on oil and gas investment opportunities at Invest in African Energies: Accra Briefing

The Invest in African Energies: Accra Briefing on April 14 provided an update on the latest developments in Ghana’s oil and gas sector, highlighting upstream and downstream strategic investment opportunities.

The investor briefing, organised by the African Energy Chamber (AEC), is a prelude to the African Energy Week scheduled to take place from September 29 to October 3 in Cape Town, South Africa. “The event provided a platform to discuss commercial oil and gas opportunities in Ghana, setting the stage for further discussions and deal-making in Cape Town,” the AEC said in a press release.

Upstream plans

During the briefing, EXPLORCO, the exploration division of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), announced plans for the spudding of its first exploration well in the Voltaian basin in Q1 2026. The company is currently carrying out research to support exploration and is inviting partners to help unlock this frontier basin.

“We will go ahead with the Voltaian project because it is a key project for the country,” said Michael Aryeetey, managing director of EXPLORCO. “This is historical because no exploration well has been drilled there since 1974. Because there is so much to do in the basin, the strategy is to invite other partners to explore and drill in the basin. We are looking for credible partners.”

The investor briefing outlined Ghana’s focus on infrastructure-driven exploration as a key strategy to boost upstream investment and attract a broad range of exploration and production companies. Richard Gyan-Mensah, the Deputy Minister of Energy and Green Transition, indicated that Ghana was “open for business” to investors.

“There are vast unlicensed blocks offshore available through direct negotiations. There are also partnership or farm-in opportunities for some of the contract areas. Risk has been successfully reduced in some of these blocks,” Gyan-Mensah said.

According to NJ Ayuk, AEC’s executive chairman, this approach reflects ‘a Ghanaian-first strategy’ designed to benefit all. Ayuk stressed that Ghana was re-emerging as a prime destination for investment and urged stakeholders to have confidence in the country’s potential and its energy sector.

Acting CEO of the Petroleum Commission of Ghana, Victoria Emeafa Hardcastle, noted that Ghana was enhancing its regulatory and fiscal environments to support upstream investment. “A lot of work has been done on the regulatory side, and we will soon come to the public and announce these,” she said. “The fiscal regime is something we are looking at, including the length of time taken to get permits and reporting issues and audits.”

These efforts aim to increase spending in Ghana’s upstream sector to address the decline in output from its mature fields. According to Edward Abambire Bawa, CEO of the oil and gas company GOIL, production had fallen by 25% since 2019. Bawa attributed this to various factors, including insufficient investment, and added that opportunities were currently being assessed.

A key government priority remains boosting production at the active Jubilee and TEN fields. “We have 640 million barrels in the Jubilee, TEN and surrounding fields and 1.2 trillion cubic feet [33.9bn cubic metres] of gas in place,” said Victor Kofi Sunu-Attah, general manager of Engineering at the GNPC. “We are doing research to ensure that these resources can be brought to the surface. We invite investors to partner with companies that have 2D and 3D seismic on their blocks and are ready to drill.”

Downstream agenda

The investment briefing also provided key insights into Ghana’s ambitious downstream agenda. The country is currently developing West Africa’s first integrated petroleum hub to enhance regional energy security and reduce the cost of petroleum products, the AEC said.

The hub is planned for development in three phases from 2024 to 2036. The initial phase comprises a 300,000 barrel per day refinery, a 90,000-bpd petrochemical facility, storage tanks and marine port infrastructure.

“Our responsibility is to ensure that we bring the ideas of the state into reality: that is to build three refineries and five petrochemical plants,” said the Petroleum Hub Development Corporation’s CEO Toni Aubynn. “Ghana will be the first to establish a facility such as this. We are going to rely on investors to develop these important industries. Our target is local investors.”

Yussif Sulemana, managing director of Tema Oil Refinery, presented plans for Ghana’s only working refinery, which has been running since 1963. According to Sulemana, efficient work processes at the refinery already help reduce petroleum product imports, and upgrades are now in progress to make it even more efficient and productive.

“Short-term, our strategy is to maximise existing assets. Medium- to long-term, we are looking at a partnership and strategic investment. We have a lot of investors interested and are looking for capital injection and expertise,” he said.

Storage and transportation

Nana Amoasi, technical advisor at the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company (BOST), briefed the participants on investment opportunities to strengthen industry infrastructure. BOST is a state-owned enterprise established in 1993 under the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum. Its primary mandate is to develop and manage a national network of storage tanks, pipelines and other bulk transportation infrastructure for petroleum products across Ghana.

BOST is also responsible for maintaining Ghana’s strategic fuel reserves to ensure energy security. The company is coordinating investments to increase petroleum storage capacity and enhance the country’s inter-depot pipeline networks.

“Going forward, we plan to double our fleet of barges and introduce a pipeline from Tema to the Accra Plains Depot,” Amoasi said. “We want to develop another storage facility and ensure that we use alternative fuels.”

Local content

Amid growing investment in the downstream sector, Ghana is placing greater emphasis on local content and human capital development to ensure more benefits for its citizens. Kwaku Boateng, director of Economics and Local Content at the Petroleum Commission, highlighted the importance of maximising value from the oil and gas industry through strong local participation. He noted that the Commission has a strategy in place to include the Ghanaian workforce across all petroleum activities, viewing local companies as valuable partners to international oil firms.

However, the AEC noted that further work was required to strengthen Ghana’s workforce capacity. According to David Pappoe, president of the AEC in Ghana, both the government and private companies have roles to play. “Ghanaian companies have to build capacity… Without human capacity, technology and knowledge, you cannot compete. We want to drive collaboration across the African continent,” Pappoe said. “Through collaboration, we will be on our way to ending energy poverty.”