• Ghana petroleum revenues fall to $399.6 million in H2 2025

• Crude oil liftings drop sharply, Brent prices decline

• Prolonged upstream investment shortfall weighs on oil output

Ghana’s petroleum revenues credited to the Petroleum Holding Fund (PHF) totaled $399.65 million in the second half of 2025. The figures were published on Monday, Feb. 2, in a semi-annual report covering the period from July 1 to Dec. 31, 2025, by the Bank of Ghana, the fund’s administrator.

In the first half of 2025, the Bank of Ghana had already reported a 56% decline in oil revenues compared to the same period in 2024. At the end of the second quarter of 2024, oil revenues stood at approximately $650 million. These revenues include proceeds from crude oil liftings, corporate income taxes from oil companies, royalties, and interest paid to the fund.

According to the report, the trend observed in 2025 was driven by a decline in revenue from crude oil liftings. Between July and December 2025, these receipts amounted to $198.25 million, compared to $369.25 million during the same period in 2024. During the period, the Ghanaian state conducted three oil liftings from the Jubilee and Sankofa Gye Nyame fields. An expected cargo from the TEN field had not yet been recorded by year-end.

The report also highlights a decline in Brent crude prices at the end of 2025. The Bank of Ghana stated that Brent prices fell from approximately $66.6 per barrel at the end of the first half of the year to $60.8 per barrel at the end of December 2025.

Oil sector faces investment shortfall

Ghana’s oil sector has faced a prolonged lack of new upstream investment for several years. According to data from the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), reported by Agence Ecofin, no significant investment was recorded in oil exploration and production between 2019 and 2024.

This comes despite the country holding petroleum potential estimated at approximately $16 billion, according to evaluations by Deloitte, based on resources identified in offshore basins.

Authorities and operators are focusing primarily on projects already in operation. The Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) project is central to this strategy. Since it began production in 2018, the offshore complex has produced more than 107 million barrels of oil and approximately 480 billion cubic feet of natural gas, according to data provided by Eni, the operator, and its partners.

In an official speech delivered in November 2025, Ghana’s Minister of Finance, Cassiel Ato Forson, said the country’s oil production fell from 71.4 million barrels in 2019 to 36 million barrels in 2025.

Abdel-Latif Boureima