Petroleum revenues in Ghana collapsed by more than half during the first six months of 2025, plunging 56 percent year-on-year to US$370.6 million according to the Bank of Ghana (BoG).
This sharp decline marks a stark reversal from the US$840.8 million recorded in the same period of 2024. The central bank’s ‘2025 First Half Semi Annual Report’ attributes the slump to a double blow of significantly reduced crude oil production and weaker global oil prices.
Industry data reveals the Ghana Group lifted 25.5 percent less crude oil, falling from 3.77 million barrels in H1 2024 to 2.81 million barrels in H1 2025. Compounding the volume loss, the average achieved price per barrel also dropped from US$84.08 to US$75.69.
This downturn follows a strong performance in 2024, where annual petroleum receipts surged 28 percent to US$1.36 billion – the country’s second-highest oil revenue year. That earlier boost, driven by favourable global prices and corporate tax windfalls from international oil companies, masked a persistent decline in actual crude output and underscored Ghana’s increasing vulnerability to external market forces.
Crude oil production has steadily decreased since its 2019 peak of 71.44 million barrels, falling to 48.25 million barrels by end-2024 – an average annual decline of 7.4 percent over five years. Operational disruptions worsened the situation in early 2025, including a 14-day shutdown of production activities spread across March and April, further curtailing output.
Credit: newsgh