Petroleum revenue in 2022 highest for single year since production in Ghana

The total petroleum revenue in 2022 is the “highest” for a single year since the inception of petroleum production in Ghana, with a figure of US$1.43 billion, the 2022 annual report of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) has said.

Crude oil in Ghana is currently produced from three fields, namely Jubilee, TEN, and the Sankofa GyeNyame (SGN).

First oil from the Jubilee Field was achieved in December 2010 while TEN and SGN came on stream in August 2016 and May 2017 respectively.

For the year 2022, a total of 51,756,481.12 barrels (bbls) were obtained from the three producing fields, lower than the 2021 figure of 55,050,391 bbls by about six (6) per cent.

The 2022 actual output represents 87 per cent of the 2022 Benchmark crude oil output of 59.51 million barrels.

The relatively lower production volume in 2022 was due to reduced production on the TEN and SGN fields, the report noted.

It said the Jubilee Field contributed about 60 per cent of the total output with production on the Jubilee field increasing by 11.7 per cent from the 2021 output of 27,335,481 bbls to 30,523,813 bbls in 2022.

The increased production was due to the successful drilling and completion campaign of three wells, PIAC said.

The TEN Field’s production declined by 28 per cent from 11,978,064 bbls in 2021 to 8,612,822 bbls in 2022 due to technical challenges on the Enyenra reservoir.

The SGN Field recorded a reduced output of 12,619,846.12 bbls in 2022 compared to 15,736,846.10 bbls in 2021, a reduction of 19.8 per cent.

The highest monthly production volume on the Jubilee Field was recorded in March and the lowest in December.

The daily average barrels of oil produced during the period stood at 83,626.88 bbls.

“Production rates were undulating during the year under review but reduced in May 2022 due to planned shutdown activities carried out on the facility from 30 April to 14 May 2022”, the report explained.

The TEN Field provided gas export of 2,397.90 MMSCF under the substitution agreement during the period.

The average barrels of oil produced on the TEN Field in 2022 stood at 23,596.77 bbls per day.

The highest oil production was recorded in October and the lowest output in August while the lowest production recorded was mainly due to flow assurance issues, pressure decline in the Enyenra reservoir, process shutdown due to High-High (HH) crude/crude exchanger pressure from slugging, En05 and En10 wells shut in due to no flow and slugging from Enyenra wells.

The Ntomme reservoir was optimised by shutting-in or cutting back on some wells to manage excess flaring.

The En10-P well was shut-in intermittently for pressure build-up.

An average output of 34,574.92 barrels of oil per day (bopd) was produced in 2022 on the SGN Field.

The highest monthly production was recorded in January with the lowest monthly production occurring in February.

The lowest production level was attributed to planned shutdown activities carried out simultaneously on the FPSO and the ORF.

Also, integrity tests were carried out on OP-8, OP-9, OP-10, SKE-1x and GI-2 wells after which water injection was halted to carry out maintenance activities on the Sulphate Removal Unit (SRU).

Production levels increased in March 2022, however, a steady decline in production from April to November 2022 was mainly attributed to facility equipment upsets. The cumulative oil production from 2010 to 2022 now stands at 560,194,571 bbls.

The 2022 production figure represents the third consecutive year of reduction in annual production volumes since 2010, the report added.

In 2019, Ghana witnessed its peak of crude oil production since inception, recording a volume of 71,439,585 barrels.

This declined to 66,926,806 barrels in 2020, representing 6.32 per cent.

Crude oil production further declined to 55,050,391 barrels in 2021, and then to 51,756,481 barrels in 2022, representing 17.75 per cent and 5.98 per cent respectively.

Gas Production

For the period under review, a total of 253,555.05 MMSCF of raw gas (Associated Gas [AG] and Non- Associated Gas [NAG]) was produced in 2022 from the three Fields compared to the 2021 volume of 256,262.04 MMSCF of raw gas produced, the report said.

This represents a gas production decrease of 7.7 per cent relative to that of 2021.

The SGN Field, relatively gas-concentrated, produced the highest volume of combined AG and NAG of 129,394.66 MMSCF while the Jubilee and TEN Fields produced 68,481.76 MMSCF and 55,678.63 MMSCF, respectively.

Jubilee gas production decreased by 2.9 per cent from 70,527.21 MMSCF in 2021 to 68,481.76 MMSCF in 2022.

Gas production on the TEN Field also declined by 13.2 per cent from 64,129.87 MMSCF in 2021 to 55,678.63 MMSCF in 2022.

The production of gas from the SGN field recorded an increase of 6.4 per cent from 121,604.96 MMSCF in 2021 to 129,394.66 MMSCF in 2022.

Gas Export

A volume of 35,880.53 MMSCF (52.4 per cent) of raw gas produced was exported from the Jubilee Field to the Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC).

The gas exported in 2022, was approximately 15.8 perccent more than the volume of 30,997.95 MMSCF recorded in 2021.

The month of January recorded the highest monthly gas production of 6,290.92 MMSCF, with the highest gas export volume of 3,605.32 MMSCF in July.

For the TEN Field, about 6.8 per cent of the gas produced (3,782.89 MMSCF) was exported to the GNGC in 2022.

This represented a 37 per cent increase in the volumes exported, as compared to 2021 (2,761.35 MMSCF).

The month of May recorded both the highest monthly gas production and export volumes of 4,982.08 MMSCF and 2,200.92 MMSCF, respectively.

A volume of 67,896.49 MMSCF (52.5%) of the total raw gas produced on the SGN Field, was exported to the Onshore Receiving Facility (ORF) in 2022, which represents a 4.2-per cent increase over the 2021 volume of 65,141.28 MMSCF.

The highest production of NAG (6,439.00 MMSCF) was recorded in January while that of AG (5,307.86 MMSCF) was recorded in March.

A volume of 39,663.42 MMSCF of total raw gas produced was exported to the GNGC from the Jubilee and TEN Fields during the period under review.

A volume of 67,896.49 MMSCF of raw gas was exported from the SGN Field to the Onshore Receiving Facility (ORF).