The petroleum industry of Ghana is regulated by the state-owned Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and administered by the state-owned Ghana Oil Company (GOIL).
The 100% state-owned filling station company of Ghana, Ghana Oil Company (GOIL) is the number 1 petroleum and gas filling station of Ghana; and commercial quantities of offshore oil reserves in Ghana were discovered in the 1970s. In 1983 the government established the 100% state-owned state oil company Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) to promote hydrocarbon exploration and production of Ghana's entire petroleum and natural gas reserves. [1]
These GNPC prospected in ten offshore blocks between Ada along the eastern international border of Ghana and in the Tano River Basin and in the Keta Basin. In 1989, GH₵64.9 million (US$30 million) was spent drilling wells in the Tano basin, and on 21 June 1992, an offshore Tano basin well produced about 6,900 barrels (1,100 m3) of crude oil daily. [1]
In the early 1990s, GNPC reviewed all earlier crude oil and natural gas discoveries to determine whether a predominantly local operation might make exploitation more commercially viable. GNPC wanted to set up a floating system for production, storage, off-loading, processing, and gas-turbine electricity generation, hoping to produce 22 billion cubic feet (620,000,000 m3) per day, from which 135 megawatts of power could be generated and fed into the national and regional grid. GNPC also signed a contract in 1992 with Angola's state oil company, Sonangol Group, that provides for drilling and, ultimately, production at two of Sonangol's offshore oilfields. GNPC was paid with a share of the crude oil. [1]
The Tema Oil Refinery in Ghana underwent the first phase of a major rehabilitation in 1989. The second phase began in April 1990 at an estimated cost of GH₵77.8 million (US$36 million). Once rehabilitation was completed, distribution of liquified petroleum gas was to be improved, and the quantity supplied was to rise from 28,000 to 34,000 barrels per day. Construction on the new Tema-Akosombo oil products pipeline, designed to improve the distribution system further, began in January 1992. [1]
The pipeline was to carry refined products from Tema to Akosombo Port, where they will be transported across Lake Volta to northern regions. Distribution continued to be uneven. Other measures to improve the situation included a GH₵60.5 million (US$28 million) project to set up a national network of storage depots in all regions. [1]
The Tema Lube Oil Company commissioned its new oil blending plant, designed to produce 25,000 tons of oil per year, in 1992. The plant was to satisfy both North Ghana and Ghana's requirements for motor and gear lubricants and 60% of the country's need for industrial lubricants, or, in all, 90% of Ghana's demand for lubricant products. Shareholders per equity included state-owned Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, and the 100% state-owned national insurance company, Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT). [1]
Ghana's Jubilee Oilfield which contains up to 3 billion barrels (480,000,000 m3) of sweet crude oil was discovered in 2007, among the many other oilfields in Ghana. [2] Oil and gas exploration in Ghana is ongoing, and the amount of both crude oil and natural gas continues to increase. [3]
Real estate projects such as Petronia City have begun in hopes of integrating new infrastructures in Ghana and taking advantage of this discovery. [4]
The Ghanaian government, indicated that the country could expand its reserves up to 5 billion barrels (790,000,000 m3) of oil in reserves within a few years. [5]
The expected annual tremendous inflow of capital from crude oil and natural gas production into the Ghana economy began from the first quarter of 2011 when Ghana started producing crude oil and natural gas in commercial quantities in 2011. [6] At the end of 2012, declining productivity at one of the country's largest oil projects, the Jubilee oil field, led to a decline in revenues for the government, who had budgeted for oil revenue of more than $650 million. [7] The corresponding shortfall was more than $410 million. [7] The oil firm blamed the decline on “sand contamination of the flowlines that carry the oil from the underwater wells” into the storage facility on the surface. [7]
In the first and second financial quarters of 2013, Ghana produced 115,000-200,000 barrels of crude oil per day and 140 million-200 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. [6] The 100% Iranian state-owned oil companies National Iranian Oil Company and Iranian Offshore Oil Company, and Singapore Petroleum Company with Vetro Energy and PetroSeraya of Singapore have declared interests to provide assistance in construction of offshore platforms and drilling rigs for Ghana's state-owned oil company, Ghana National Petroleum Company on rapidly developing Ghana's oil and gas infrastructure and industry as Ghana aims to further increase output of oil to 2 million barrels per day and gas to 1.2 billion cubic feet per day with an expected annual generating revenue of GH₵140.7 billion (US$65 billion) in 2014. [8] [9]
Ghana is believed to have up to 5 billion barrels (790,000,000 m3) to 7 billion barrels (1.1×109 m3) of petroleum in reserves, [5] which is the sixth largest in Africa and the 25th largest proven reserves in the world and Ghana has up to 6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in reserves. [10] Ghana's experience with the oil and gas industry has been more complex than is often assumed. [11] Recent research shows that the challenges and prospects of the oil and gas industry go beyond the often discussed issues about macroeconomic stability to pressing current concerns about energy. This research shows the possibility that the rents from oil and gas can be used for social change in Ghana. [12]
North Sea oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons, comprising liquid petroleum and natural gas, produced from petroleum reservoirs beneath the North Sea.
Group Sonangol is a parastatal that formerly oversaw petroleum and natural gas production in Angola. The group consisted of Sonangol E.P. and its many subsidiaries. The subsidiaries generally had Sonangol E.P. as a primary client, along with other corporate, commercial, and individual clients. Angola is estimated to have over 5 billion barrels (790,000,000 m3) of offshore and coastal petroleum reserves, and new discoveries are outpacing consumption by a 5-to-1 ratio.
Petroleum production in Canada is a major industry which is important to the overall economy of North America. Canada has the third largest oil reserves in the world and is the world's fourth largest oil producer and fourth largest oil exporter. In 2019 it produced an average of 750,000 cubic metres per day (4.7 Mbbl/d) of crude oil and equivalent. Of that amount, 64% was upgraded from unconventional oil sands, and the remainder light crude oil, heavy crude oil and natural-gas condensate. Most of the Canadian petroleum production is exported, approximately 600,000 cubic metres per day (3.8 Mbbl/d) in 2019, with 98% of the exports going to the United States. Canada is by far the largest single source of oil imports to the United States, providing 43% of US crude oil imports in 2015.
The Ministry of Petroleum (MOP) (Persian: وزارت نفت, romanized: Vezârat-e Naft) manages the oil industry, the producer of oil and petrochemical products. MoP is in charge of all issues pertaining to exploration, extraction, exploitation, distribution and exportation of crude oil and oil products. In addition, according to the "Imports and Exports Regulation Act", issuing import licenses for such products is also among the functions of the Ministry of Petroleum. The ministry has been placed under sanctions by the United States Department of State as of 2020.
The South Pars/North Dome field is a natural-gas condensate field located in the Persian Gulf. It is by far the world's largest natural gas field, with ownership of the field shared between Iran and Qatar. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the field holds an estimated 1,800 trillion cubic feet of in-situ natural gas and some 50 billion barrels of natural gas condensates. On the list of natural gas fields it has almost as much recoverable reserves as all the other fields combined. It has significant geostrategic influence.
The Bouri Offshore Field is part of Block NC-41, which is located 120 kilometers (75 mi) north of the Libyan coast in the Mediterranean Sea. It was first discovered in 1976 at a depth of 8,700 feet (2,700 m) and is estimated to contain 4.5 billion barrels (720,000,000 m3) in proven recoverable crude oil reserves and 3.5 trillion cubic feet (99 km3) of associated natural gas with an annual production potential of 6 billion m³. Bouri is considered the largest producing oilfield in the Mediterranean.
Ghana generates electric power from hydropower, fossil-fuel, and renewable energy sources such as wind and solar energy. Electricity generation is one of the key factors in order to achieve the development of the Ghanaian national economy, with aggressive and rapid industrialization; Ghana's national electric energy consumption was 265 kilowatt hours per each one in 2009.
The impact of the petroleum industry has been increasing globally as China ranks seventh for oil production and second in crude oil consumption in the world. China imported a record 6.7 million barrels a day (b/d) of oil in 2015 and was forecast "to overtake the U.S. as the world's biggest crude importer in 2016".
As of 2017, Azerbaijan produced a range of metals and industrial minerals, including aluminum, bentonite, copper, gold, iodine, limestone, silver and steel.
Sources include: Dow Jones (DJ), New York Times (NYT), Wall Street Journal (WSJ), and the Washington Post (WP).
Krishna Godavari Basin is a peri-cratonic passive margin basin in India. It is spread across more than 50,000 square kilometres in the Krishna River and Godavari River basins in Andhra Pradesh. The site is known for the D-6 block where Reliance Industries discovered the biggest natural gas reserves in India in 2003.
Iran is an energy superpower and the petroleum industry in Iran plays an important part in it. In 2004, Iran produced 5.1 percent of the world's total crude oil, which generated revenues of US$25 billion to US$30 billion and was the country's primary source of foreign currency. At 2006 levels of production, oil proceeds represented about 18.7% of gross domestic product (GDP). However, the importance of the hydrocarbon sector to Iran's economy has been far greater. The oil and gas industry has been the engine of economic growth, directly affecting public development projects, the government's annual budget, and most foreign exchange sources.
The Jubilee Oil Field is an oil field located off the coast of the Ghana's Western Region in the South Atlantic Ocean under the ownership of the Kosmos Energy, Occidental Petroleum and the Tullow Oil.
The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) is a state agency responsible for the exploration, licensing, and distribution of petroleum-related activities in Ghana.
Saltpond Oil Field is an oil field off the coast of Ghana. The field was discovered in 1970 by Signal-Amoco Consortium. The field is currently managed by the Saltpond Offshore Producing Company (SOPCL), Ghana's oldest producer of crude oil.
GOIL PLC formerly known as GOIL Company Limited (GOIL) and Ghana Oil Company and also known as GOIL, is a state-owned Ghanaian oil and gas marketing company, formed on 14 June 1960. Currently it holds the place of Ghana's top oil marketing company, and is the only indigenous owned petroleum marketing company in Ghana.
Cairn India was an Indian oil and gas exploration and production company, headquartered in Gurgaon, India. The company was merged with Vedanta Limited.
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The Tweneboa Enyenra Ntomme Oil Field is an oil field within Ghana's territorial waters and the country's second major oil field after the Jubilee Oil Field. It is popularly known as the TEN oil field, an acronym formed from the three drilling fields that it comprises. Coincidentally, the exploration for oil in the basin also started with ten pre-first oil wells.