Ben Boakye, Executive Director of the Africa Center for Energy Policy (ACEP), has voiced concerns over Ghana’s declining oil output.

According to the Public Interest and Accountability Committee’s (PIAC) Annual Report for 2023, Ghana’s crude oil production fell in 2023 for the fourth consecutive year, which is a concerning trend.

The production of crude oil fell sharply, according to the data, from a peak of 71.44 million barrels in 2019 to 48.25 million barrels in 2023. This indicates a 9.2 percent annual drop on average.

A concerning finding was that, for the second year in a row, the whole earnings of the liftings from Jubilee Oil Holdings Limited (JOHL), which totaled US$70,456,718.93, were not placed into the Petroleum Holding Fund (PHF).

Ben Boakye blamed Ghana’s lack of attractiveness to foreign investors for the drop in oil production during an interview on Citi TV’s The Point of View.

He also emphasized the absence of government incentives for local businesses that are already generating and for investors.

He emphasized that the key to drawing in new investors is to provide incentives to current ones.

“When those in your country already producing are not incentivised to put in more money, you are only joking to think you can bring in more investors… Once you are roaming around looking for investors, the narrative globally is that Ghana is not attractive. And that is known to the industry.

“You have Wood Mackenzie, you have all the energy journals saying that Ghana is not attractive, you are only wasting money showing up at events to list what you have or showcase what you have,” he said.

Mr. Boakye pointed out that neighboring Cote D’Ivoire is effectively drawing sizable investments despite the global investment ban.

“I don’t think it’s a general problem, there’s a general constraint on investments, but again, oil is being consumed, the demand is growing, and therefore, we need to produce it. Countries that are strategising around broad problems globally are still attracting investments.

“One example you can always reference is our next-door neighbour Cote D’Ivoire, which was not producing significant oil, they have the same investments, we have here,” he said.

In the event that the government lacks the resources for production, the Executive Director of ACEP advised it to plan ahead and be proactive by optimizing investments in order to profit.

He mentioned several nations that have benefited immensely from investment terms that are flexible.

We have proven reserves, but there’s room for more exploration and that costs a lot of money. So, you need to attract investments into those fields. If you have money to do it yourself, it’s always an option. But if you don’t have money, you always want to attract investments, discount the investments and be able to share the profits or the benefits,” he mentioned to host Bernard Avle.