Petroleum rakes in $1.43b in 2022 - Highest since production in 2010

The government received the highest petroleum revenue for a single year in 2022 since the start of petroleum production in the country in 2010.

Data from the 2022 Annual Report of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) showed that petroleum receipts for 2022 amounted to $1.43 billion, representing an increase of 42 per cent over the projected revenue for the year and 82.38 per cent higher than the receipts for 2021 of $783.33 million.

Apart from 2022’s $1.43 billion in receipts, government’s highest annual receipts from petroleum production have been $978.02 million in 2014 and $976.09 million in 2018, with 2016 bringing the lowest revenue receipts of $247.18 million since 2011.

The significant rise in revenue in 2022 was mainly due to the sharp increase in the price of crude oil on the world market, said to have been impacted by the Russia-Ukraine war.

Sharing findings of the 2022 PIAC Annual Report in Accra yesterday, the Chairman of the PIAC, Prof. Kwame Adom-Frimpong, stated that 2022’s $1.43 billion accrued to the Petroleum Holding Fund (PHF) from royalties, Carried and Participating Interest (CAPI), Corporate Income Taxes (CIT), surface rentals and income earned on the PHF, compared to $783.33 million in 2021.

He explained that the increase in revenue could be attributed to favourable international crude oil prices which were higher than estimated prices.

According to him, the average achieved price by the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) on behalf of the Ghana Group for the three producing fields increased by 52.9 per cent from $69.180/bbl (barrels of crude oil) in 2021 to $105.746/bbl in 2022.

He said despite the decline in production volumes, petroleum revenues increased in 2022 by 82.4 per cent.

Oil liftings

The chairman observed that receipts from crude oil liftings amounted to $1.04 billion in 2022 as compared to $578.61 million in 2021, representing an increase of 79.2 per cent.

He said six liftings were made from the Jubilee Field in 2022, yielding $567.39 million in receipts, whereas five liftings recorded in 2021 yielded $310.86 million.

On the TEN field, he said one lifting was made in 2022, yielding $182.37 million, whereas receipts for 2021 yielded $128.72 million from three liftings.

According to him, there were three liftings on the Sankofa Gye-Nyame (SGN) field in 2022, with total revenues amounting to $287.04 million as compared to two liftings in 2021 yielding $139.03 million in revenues, representing 106.5 per cent increase over the 2021 receipts.

Other findings

Prof. Adom-Frimpong noted that crude oil production had been declining for three consecutive years.

He said a volume of 71,439,585 barrels was produced in 2019, but declined to 66,926,806 barrels in 2020, representing 6.32 per cent.

It further declined to 55,050,391 barrels in 2021 (17.75 per cent) and then to 51,756,481 barrels in 2022 (5.98 per cent).

The average decline over the three-year period stood at 10 per cent.

He said surface rental arrears continued to rise, increasing from $2.58