The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), says revenues accrued from upstream petroleum operations in Ghana declined significantly in 2020 as compared to 2019.

It attributed the decline to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated effects on the global economy and other upstream petroleum industry actors.

This was contained in a report, which was presented during a regional public forum on the management of Ghana’s petroleum revenues for the year 2020, in Tamale.

According to the report, “oil production decreased in volume from 71,439,585 in 2019 to 66,926,806 in 2020”.

“As a result, revenues declined from US$925,035,879.84 in 2019 to US$638,643,030.56 in 2020”.

Professor Kwame Adom-Frimpong, PIAC Chairman, said the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic brought some uncertainties in the global upstream petroleum sector operations, which also affected Ghana’s petroleum industry.

This, he added, had adverse effects on government’s budgetary allocations for undertaking its development projects.

The PIAC reiterated the need for policymakers to formulate a long term national development plan to guide the use of oil revenues in the country’s development process.

Alhaji Alhassan Shani Saibu, Northern Regional Minister, commended the PIAC for organizing the forum and said getting the people informed about how petroleum revenues were managed strengthened the accountability system in the country.

He mentioned some of the development projects that were funded through petroleum revenues in 2020 in the Region, including the construction of 12-10-Seater Water Closet Toilets with Mechanized Boreholes and Solar Panels in Tolon, Kumbungu and Zabzugu Constituencies among others.

Some of the participants present at the forum urged PIAC and other stakeholders to strictly monitor the progress of projects being funded by oil revenues to ensure value for money.