Ghana’s petroleum revenue watchdog has directly called out the Ministry of Finance for failing to apply the correct legal formula governing the Ghana Stabilisation Fund (GSF), warning that the lapse leaves the country’s fiscal buffer weaker than it should be at a time of sharply declining oil output.
The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) Chairman, Richard Ellimah, made the remarks at a media engagement in Techiman in the Bono East Region, where the Committee disseminated findings from its 2025 Annual Report. He said retaining the GSF cap at US$100 million for 2025 conflicts directly with the formula prescribed under Regulation 8 of Legislative Instrument (L.I.) 2381, and urged the Ministry of Finance to apply that formula strictly going forward.
The GSF is designed to cushion the economy against volatility in global oil prices, and its adequacy matters most precisely when revenues are falling. Ghana’s petroleum receipts dropped to US$770.3 million in 2025, down from US$1.36 billion the year before, as crude oil production extended its decline for a sixth consecutive year. Output fell to 37.3 million barrels in 2025 from a peak of 71.44 million barrels in 2019, representing a compounded annual average decline of nine percent.
Ellimah said the TEN field, one of Ghana’s three producing offshore assets, has particularly underperformed against initial projections, and called on government to work with the Petroleum Commission to develop a framework that brings in new upstream investment while improving management of existing fields.
On the use of petroleum revenues, PIAC noted that a US$30 million allocation linked to airport infrastructure had generated US$17.9 million in interest and fees between 2017 and 2025. While acknowledging the return as a positive outcome, the Committee said investment decisions should be more strategically targeted to maximise long-term value.
PIAC member Constantine Kojo Mawuena Kudzedzi said the Committee’s role extends beyond reporting to active accountability, investigating discrepancies and pressing public institutions to answer for how petroleum revenues are managed and spent.
The 2025 Annual Report separately revealed that Explorco, a subsidiary of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), has failed to remit US$561.6 million in petroleum revenues owed to the Republic for the period 2022 to 2024, a figure PIAC has demanded be deposited into the Petroleum Holding Fund (PHF) without further delay.
