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The Chief Executive Office of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Dr. Kofi Koduah Sarpong has said that the country may miss out on potential increase in oil revenue from the Voltaian basin due to increased exploration activities should the procurement challenges currently facing his outfit go unaddressed.
The development he also contends could distort the initial schedule to complete all exploration works by mid-2019.
Dr. Sarpong speaking at the official commissioning of the FPSO J.A. Kufuor in the Western region explained that: “I would like to appeal to the President to use the Executive power to give us the necessary approval to overcome the procurement challenges currently delaying the project,” he said.
He added, “The next 18 months will see more exploration activities in our quest to discover hydrocarbon in the Voltaian basin which covers Eastern, Volta, Northern and Brong Ahafo regions. It constitutes about 40 percent of the national landmass. This is a potential game changer in Ghana’s oil and gas sector.”
This year marks 10 years since Ghana commenced the commercial oil exploration.
The country currently accommodates three oil production fields all in the Western region.
Despite this, the fluctuations in the global oil prices have also affected the economy as the country is a net importer of the commodity.
According to the PIAC’s 2016 Annual Petroleum Revenue Management report, there was a 13.7% decline in crude oil production in 2016 compared to 2015.
The figure dropped from about 37 to 32 million barrels between 2015 and 2016. Oil revenue equally dropped by 38% between 2015 and 2016, according to PIAC. The amount declined from US$396.17 million in 2015 to US$247.18 million in 2016.
Meanwhile, Dr. Sarpong has disclosed that initial tests should commence as soon as the government grants the approval.
“A geochemistry technique which has been successfully deployed in Senegal, will be tested soon before full scale to this seismic survey is embarked on as a way of reducing cost.”