Ghana’s oil production to go up to 500,000 barrels - Minister

Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister of Finance has said the overall crude oil production from Ghana is expected to more than double over the next four years.

“Overall, crude oil production is expected to increase from 196,089 barrels per day in 2019 to 420,020 barrels per day in 2023,” he said, adding that, the first oil from the Aker fields is expected between the last quarter of 2020 and first quarter of 2021.

The Aker Energy ASA has confirmed a significant offshore resource base in Ghana and had committed to scale up new development in the Deepwater Tano Cape Three (DWT/CT) points block.

This was made known in a statement issued by the Public Relations Unit of the Ministry and copied to the Ghana News Agency on Thursday, when the Minister led a government delegation to address 20 key international companies at a meeting in Oslo, Norway on Wednesday.

Mr Ofori-Atta said Ghana has re-asserted herself strongly as a key destination for petro-chemical industry players and that last month, Aker Energy ASA announced the biggest oil find in Africa, of 450-550 million barrels, with potential recoverable reserves of nearly one billion barrels.

“Going forward, the vision of government is to create an optimistic, self-confident and building a prosperous nation, through the creative exploitation of our human and natural resources, and operating within a democratic, open and fair society in which mutual trust and economic opportunities exist for all,” the Minister said.

Mr Mohammed Amin Adams, the Deputy Minister of Energy said Ghana’s production of crude oil was expected to reach half a million barrels by 2025.

The government delegation, which include Mr Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, the Minister of Transport, held extensive discussions with Aker and other related entities.

The discussions also highlighted plans to develop the Tema Drydock Shipyard, which is in line with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s vision to ensure Ghana develops a shipbuilding, Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) capacity.

Government of Ghana is the sole shareholder of PSC Tema Shipyard Company, which operates Tema Shipyard.