Ghana’s crude oil export saw a marginal decline in 2024, despite the West African economy boasting an impressive trade surplus of US$4.98 billion thanks to other commodities like gold and cocoa which did the magic.
This marginal decline was revealed in the January 2025 Summary of Economic and Financial Data released by the Bank of Ghana.
In that report, Ghana’s oil export dropped by 0.7% to US$3.68 billion, compared to US$3.71 billion recorded in 2023.
Although the country saw a small decline in 2024, its oil production increased for the first time in five years.
In the first half of 2024, Ghana’s oil output climbed by 10.7% to reach 24.86 million barrels, representing a 13.2% increase compared to the same period in 2023. This was due to the start of operations at the Jubilee South East (JSE) project operated by Tullow Oil.
The total petroleum receipts for the period increased by 55.6% from US$540.4 million in H1 2023 to US$840.7 million in H1 2024 mainly due to increased production for the period.
The main destinations for Ghana’s crude petroleum exports in 2024 were India, the US, and China.
In 2023, Ghana’s trade balance narrowed by 10% to US$2.6 billion. This was due to an 8.7% drop in cocoa export income as well as a 30% slide in oil revenue.
The Bank said that Ghana’s 2024 remarkable trade surplus was driven by a sharp 53.2% year-on-year increase in gold export, which hit a total of US$11.64 billion last year.
The report also revealed improvements in gross international reserves, which the Bank said stood at US$8.98 billion as of the end of 2024.
Overall, the country’s total export value grew by 21.06%, reaching US$20.22 billion.
Ghana, with proven oil reserves of about 2.5 billion barrels of oil, joined the ranks of oil producing countries in the early 2010s following the entry of Tullow Oil into its oil market.
Crude oil production fell to a five-year low in 2023 due to production declines in existing fields operated by Tullow, effectively erasing gains from new wells.
The Irish oil firm has been involved in arbitration cases over alleged tax evasion in Ghana in addition to its insolvency concerns, a situation that aroused the interest of its American rival Kosmos Energy for a potential acquisition.
Tullow first started commercial oil production at the Jubilee offshore field, which continues to pump the most oil in the country, over 70% of its total oil output.
Today it has three major offshore oil and gas fields, namely the Jubilee, Tweneboa Enyenra Ntomme (TEN) and Sankofa-Gye Nyame (SGN) fields, each boasting huge hydrocarbon reserves.
