Ghana no longer an attractive destination for petroleum investment – Steve Manteaw

Stakeholders in Ghana's extractive sector are worried. They see a decline in the country's appeal to investors. This is especially true for the upstream petroleum industry.

Concerns have grown after five years without new petroleum agreements. This streak will end in 2024. Meanwhile, crude oil production has also dropped significantly. It fell from 71.44 million barrels in 2019 to just 48.25 million barrels in 2024.

Dr. Steve Manteaw is the Co-chair of the Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GHEITI). He believes declining investor interest stems from several challenges. These include regulatory, operational, and market-related issues that need urgent attention.

He stated, "Ghana is not an attractive investment destination." He noted that no new contracts have been signed recently. Ongoing international arbitration cases with International Oil Companies (IOCs) add to the problem.

Dr. Manteaw criticized the current fiscal regime as inadequate. He mentioned that cost-benefit analyses of promotional roadshows show poor returns on investment. He pointed out that ExxonMobil exited due to small block sizes and poor data quality.

He urged stakeholders to address these issues instead of seeking foreign investors. "Let’s stay at home and fix the problems," he said during the launch of the 2024 Annual Report by the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC).

He highlighted that ENI discovered oil in Ghana before finding more success in Côte d'Ivoire, where they are now producing oil while Ghana is still developing its resources.