By Kizito CUDJOE
A total lodgement of US$840,765,266 was made into the Petroleum Holding Fund (PHF) as receipts for the first half of 2024 compared with US$540,456,124 for the same period in 2023, according to the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC).
This represents a 55.6 percent increase compared with the figure for H1 2023. The revenues were derived from corporate taxes, surface rentals (acreage fees), crude oil liftings, interest on the PHF and other income.
This amount is the highest revenue the country has recorded out of its cumulative petroleum revenue of US$10.69billion from 2011 to date.
The latest revenue was realised from crude oil production of 24.8 million barrels (bbls) recorded in H1 2024 from its three offshore producing Fields – Jubilee, TEN and SGN. This represents a 10.7 percent increase from H1 2023’s production volume of 22.4 million bbls.
According to PIAC’s 2024 Semi-Annual Report published, the increase was due to higher production of crude oil in the Jubilee field during the period under review.
Crude oil production increased by 25.1 percent in the Jubilee Field year-on-year, but declined by 4.8 percent and 12.4 percent on the TEN and SGN Fields respectively.
Jubilee production increased from 13.1 million bbls in H1 2023 to 16.4 million bbls in H1 2024, representing a 25.1 percent increase. Average daily oil production in the Jubilee Field in H1 2024 was 90,137.47 bbls compared to 72,449 bbls in H1 2023.
“The highest monthly oil produced was recorded in March 2024 due to the ramping up of J03 P and J69-P wells in March after commissioning the J69-P in late February. June recorded the least monthly oil production, mainly attributed to facility upsets,” a portion of the report read.
Meanwhile, the Petroleum Commission (PC) reported a slight cutback in production to manage high flaring due to issues with the low-pressure gas compressor (LPGC-A) and the Ghana National Gas Company Limited (GNGLC) processing plant.
Additionally, a trip in the triethylene glycol (TEG) contactor, caused by a faulty level transmitter, had a cascading effect that led to the shutdown of all gas compression systems. As a result, some wells have been choked down to minimise flaring rates.
Tweneboa-Enyenra-Ntomme (TEN) production, on the other hand, declined from 3.6 million bbls in H1 2023 to 3.4 million bbls in H1 2024, marking a 4.8 percent decrease. The average daily oil production declined from 20,032.24 bbls in H1 2023 to 18,958.49 bbls in H1 2024. The highest monthly oil production during the period was recorded in March while February recorded the lowest.
The low production was mainly attributed to flow assurance issues and non-performance of the En08-P and En10-P producing wells.
Also, Sankofa Gye-Nyame (SGN) production declined from 5.7 million bbls in H1 2023 to 5 million bbls in H1 2024, representing a 12.4 percent decrease. Average daily production reduced from 31,562.9 bbls to 27,483.59 bbls during the period, under review.
The highest monthly oil produced within this period was in January and lowest in June, with the Petroleum Commission reporting that the low production volumes in February and June were mainly attributed to facility upsets and the unavailability of Gas Turbine Generator (GTG) – due to ongoing repairs of an electrical failure.
Cumulatively, the volume of crude oil produced in the country since first oil in December 2010 totals 633.2 million bbls as of end-June 2024.
PIAC, in its latest report, pointed out that total surface rental arrears remain at US$1.2million excluding that of the terminated petroleum agreements (PAs).
Furthermore, it identified that there was neither allocation nor disbursement to the industrialisation priority area during the period under review.
Against this backdrop, PIAC reiterated that the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) should take immediate steps to recover the surface rentals outstanding and also ensure surface rentals assessed be paid into the PHF not later than 28th February of each year, as provided in Regulation 5(1)(b) of L.I. 2381.
