Explore more oil to fund green transition

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By Kingsley Webora TANKEH

The Chief Executive Officer of RigWorld Solutions, Kofi Amoa-Abban, has urged government to ramp up oil and gas exploration to keep the lights on and generate revenue to fund the country’s green transition, stressing that there is still appetite for exploration of fossil fuels, which could bring a lot of revenue for development.

He said the revenue generated could be channelled into the development of green energy sources such as hydrogen, solar and wind power—where viable—to enhance the country’s energy mix.

Speaking at the Practitioners’ Forum 2025, organised by the UPSA School of Graduate Studies, the oil exploration services provider urged a dual focus on fossil fuel development and renewable energy to ensure economic stability, highlighting the significance of the Ministry of Energy and Green Transition.

“To have a very robust economy, we should focus on developing our hydrocarbon industry and the green energy at the same time,” he noted.

His comments follow the recent announcement by ENI Ghana and Tullow Ghana regarding the resumption of offshore drilling operations in the Cape Three Points and Jubilee fields, respectively.

Amid fervent and very strong calls yet for the world to reduce carbon emissions and reach net zero by 2050, the tycoon argued that Africa’s oil and gas industry will remain viable for decades.

He said Africa will still be exploring and developing hydrocarbons for the next 20 to 30 years due to the large reserves in the region.

He cited the coal industry, where the International Energy Agency’s proposal for a halt in the construction of new coal power plants and phasing out existing ones by 2030 is met with intense resistance from countries like China, India and South Africa, which still rely on coal for power production.

“It is like the coal industry. It still exists despite seen as a non-effective way of producing energy. Countries like China and India are still producing coal,” he said.

He noted that even with green energies like hydrogen, still need fossil fuels to operate.

While mimicking the USA President Donald Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” comment, he said Africa’s oil and gas industry is still at its nascent stage and could occasion a major turnaround for many economies in the region.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) 2024 World Energy Outlook predicts that global oil and gas demand will peak before 2030 and forecasts a decline in oil and gas demand after 2029.

Contrary to IEA’s predictions, BP projects a 10 percent increase in gas demand by 2030 and 17 percent by 2040; Exxon forecasts 12 percent and 19 percent respectively, while Shell anticipates a 13 percent rise in demand by 2040.

Mr. Amoa-Abban noted: “The Western world is trying to go green because they have depleted most of their fossil fuel reserves. And they are imposing it on Africa, which has just started exploration and production of oil and gas”.

While acknowledging that sustainable green energy is good for climate control, he stated that the future of the oil and gas industry still looks bright despite intensified calls for phasing out fossil fuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reach net zero, with stringent demands under the Paris Agreement.

  

A wave of divestment of clean energy and reduction in net zero targets swept across the world’s oil giants, raising climate  and sustainability concerns.

In 2024, Shell reduced investment in clean energy to 8 percent in what it called a “portfolio adjustment”. In May, 2025, just a few days ago, it announced that it is ditching one of its notable solar projects in Brazil, saying it does not bring in “sufficient returns”.

This backtrack in investments comes after it scrapped emissions reduction targets. However, at least 92 percent of investments still remain tied to fossil fuels.

This is not unique to Shell. BP reportedly ditched its green energy targets and shifted its focus back to fossil fuels by abandoning the goal to increase renewable energy generation capacity 20-fold by 2030.

Exxon Mobil’s continuous focus on oil and gas shows the possibility for growth in the industry in spite of the push to phase out fossil fuels.

With growing demand for energy in Ghana amid production shortfalls due to indebtedness and capacity issues, Amoa-Abban stressed that we have enough energy to sustain ourselves but bad leadership and the lack of political will have put the country’s energy sector in crisis.

“If you have people who understand the energy industry at the helm of affairs, I think they can be creative and innovative to bring changes to our energy sector,” he noted.

The seasoned entrepreneur contended that Ghana’s energy sector could be efficient and much more sustainable without Independent Power Producers (IPPs).

“We don’t need IPPs. It is just a vehicle to siphon money from the system,” he stressed.

Speaking on how to sustain and grow a business to be competitive in Ghana, he advised: “You should have a very good finance person who understands and believes in your vision and goal in life”.

He, therefore, charged the youth to be “strategic and innovative”, while looking for opportunities as they go into the job market.

“I can’t give you a million dollars, but you can carve your own rewarding path,” he advised..