The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) has reported a substantial reduction in gas flaring across Ghana’s three producing fields during the first half of 2026, compared with the same period in 2025.
Flaring fell by 74.02 percent at Jubilee, 40.79 percent at TEN and 79.73 percent at SGN. The corresponding flaring volumes recorded in the first half of 2025 were 6,155.77 MMSCF at Jubilee, 2,799.59 MMSCF at TEN and 4,888.19 MMSCF at SGN.
PIAC attributed the improvement to better compliance with flaring limits approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and commended the field operators for their progress.
Crude oil production rose by 11.73 percent year-on-year, increasing from 18,415,410.74 bbls in the first half of 2025 to 20,575,376.56 bbls in the first half of 2026. The committee said the increase was mainly driven by higher output from the Jubilee and SGN fields.
Total petroleum receipts also increased, rising by 52 percent from US$370,343,681.17 to US$561,408,307.36. PIAC said the growth was largely the result of significantly higher achieved crude oil prices, while Corporate Income Tax collections rose by 37 percent.
However, Surface Rental arrears remained a concern. Despite recovery efforts by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), outstanding payments stood at approximately US$2.41 million at the end of the first half of 2026. That figure excludes US$1.73 million owed under terminated Petroleum Agreements.
PIAC said improved Volta River Authority (VRA) settlements and receipts through the regular cash waterfall mechanism (CWM) had strengthened cash-flow predictability. Nevertheless, a 17.53% year-on-year fall in the total value of CWM receipts, together with only limited improvement in collections, continued to put pressure on Ghana National Gas Company Limited (GNGLC).
The committee warned that the situation threatened upstream payments to GNPC and the long-term reliability of Ghana’s gas infrastructure and supply.
“GNPC received US$85.98 million (39.9 percent of CAPI) during the period but applied only US$23.45 million of the US$40.14 million received as Jubilee Equity Financing to Jubilee production and development costs,” PIAC said.
“The balance of US$16.69 million, together with GNPC’s Level B receipts, financed non-field expenditure, including staff cost and corporate head office construction.”
PIAC recommended that the EPA, working with the Petroleum Commission and the Energy Commission, create a system to monitor and report gas venting volumes from every producing field. It said this would provide a complete record of gas losses and emissions in the upstream sector.
The committee acknowledged government efforts to attract investors, including recent MoUs with Shell and Chevron, but renewed its call for a framework to improve investment in existing fields, particularly TEN, where production has fallen short of initial projections. It also called for improvements to regulatory and fiscal frameworks and data acquisition in new basins.
PIAC said the Ministry of Finance should treat higher receipts driven by crude prices as volatile, with any amount above Benchmark Revenue transferred promptly to the Ghana Petroleum Funds under Act 815.
It urged the GRA to take decisive enforcement action against persistent defaulters, including penalties and interest, and said all arrears should be settled before any contract area is renegotiated, renewed or reallocated, including the ongoing renegotiation by Swiss African Oil Company Ltd.
GNGLC was also told to improve collections and convert processed gas sales into timely, predictable cash receipts. PIAC said GNPC should use Level A receipts strictly for field production and development costs, account for the US$16.69 million not applied to Jubilee costs, and that the Ministry of Finance should link Level A fund releases to verified operator cash calls.
