Total petroleum revenues from Ghana’s three oil fields increased by 17.5 per cent from $666 million in 2020 to $783 million in 2021 due to higher crude oil prices, the Public Interest Accountability Committee (PIAC) has revealed.
In its 2021 Annual Report on the management and use of petroleum revenues, it said this was despite a 17.7 per cent decline in annual crude oil production from 66,926,806 barrels (bbls) in 2020 to 55,050,391 bbls in 2021.
Launched in Accra yesterday the report said the decline in production was notwithstanding the rebound of economic activities in 2021, after the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.
The release of the 11th annual report is in fulfilment of Section 56 of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA), 2011 (Act 815) which mandates PIAC to monitor and evaluate the management and use of Ghana’s petroleum revenues by the government and stakeholder institutions.
Presenting the highlights, PIAC Chairman, Professor Kwame Adom-Frimpong, said the average achieved crude oil price of $69.18/bbl by the Ghana Group in all fields was higher than the government’s benchmark price of $54.75/bbl.
He said Jubilee Field contributed half of the total output, even though production reduced by 10 per cent from the 2020 output (30,424,539 bbls) while the Tweneboa, Enyenra, Ntomme (TEN) Field’s production declined by 32.7 per cent from 17,802,536 bbls in 2020 to 11,978,064 bbls in 2021.
According to the report the SankofaGyeNyame (SGN) Field recorded its fourth full-year production, with a reduced output by 15.8 per cent from 18,699,731.01 bbls in 2020 to 15,736,846.10 bbls in 2021.
In the year under review, the report said no new Petroleum Agreements were executed or ratified by Parliament leaving the total number of existing Petroleum Agreements at 14.
In 2021, the report said the Petroleum Commission terminated the agreement of four contractors; Swiss African Oil Company Limited – SWAOCO, UB Resources, Brittania U, and Sahara Energy Fields Ghana Limited), for non-performance.
“Despite the termination, these four companies account for about 73 per cent of an outstanding Surface Rental of $2,579,170.22”, the report said.
The PIAC report revealed that Surface Rental Arrears increased by 22.22 percent from $2,110,212.23 in 2020 to $2,579,170.21 in 2021.
It said the total amount received into the Petroleum Holding Fund for the period under review was $783,325,849.86, representing 17.55 per cent higher than the receipts for the year 2020 ($666,390,751.22) but 11.56 per cent lower than the benchmark revenue for the year 2021.
It said Carried and Participating Interest (CAPI) continues to contribute the highest percentage of total revenues followed by Royalties, Corporate Income Taxes, and Surface Rentals.
Touching on recommendations, Prof. Adom-Frimpong said while the committee commends the Petroleum Commission for terminating the agreement of four contractors it should ensure strict compliance with minimum work obligations of international oil companies.
BY JONATHAN DONKOR
