GNPC Explorco has emerged as a key focus of the latest report by the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), which says the company must account for $561.65 million in outstanding petroleum revenues amid a broader downturn in Ghana’s oil sector.
According to the report, the unaccounted funds linked to Explorco, a subsidiary of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, raise major concerns over transparency and financial reporting within state-owned petroleum entities.
PIAC is recommending stronger oversight of both GNPC and Explorco, and has directed the entities to account for and transfer the outstanding amount into the Petroleum Holding Fund.
The concerns come at a time when Ghana’s petroleum revenues have fallen sharply. Total petroleum receipts declined by 43.27 percent, dropping from $1.36 billion in 2024 to $770.27 million in 2025.
The report attributes the decline largely to falling crude oil production, which has now dropped for six consecutive years. National output declined from 71.44 million barrels in 2019 to 37.3 million barrels in 2025, representing an average annual reduction of about 9 percent.
PIAC said the downturn reflects a combination of maturing oil fields, reservoir depletion, technical constraints, and inadequate upstream investment.
The committee also noted operational inefficiencies in the sector, particularly at the TEN field, where gas reinjection reached 81 percent, signalling limitations in gas utilisation and reduced field efficiency. It added that no revenue inflows were recorded from the TEN field in 2025, worsening the country’s overall earnings position.
GNPC itself also recorded a significant fall in receipts, with inflows declining by 61.55 percent due to lower petroleum revenues and policy-related changes, even as the corporation continues to face high financial obligations, including cash call commitments linked to the TEN field.
Beyond production challenges, PIAC said Ghana’s petroleum revenue base remains overly concentrated in two producing assets — Jubilee and SGN — leaving the country vulnerable to production disruptions or price volatility.
The report further highlighted compliance concerns in revenue allocation, revealing that only 0.43 percent of the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) was transferred to the District Assemblies Common Fund, far below the statutory minimum of 5 percent.
PIAC also disclosed that $434.55 million earmarked for infrastructure under the government’s Big Push programme remained unutilised in a suspense account throughout the year.
To reverse declining production, the committee urged government to improve the investment climate for existing and new petroleum projects, while implementing a medium-term strategy to enhance reservoir connectivity and extend the productive life of the TEN field.
It also called for full compliance with the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, greater transparency in the use of petroleum funds, and immediate action by GNPC and Explorco to regularise outstanding revenues.
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