Total receipts from liftings from Ghana’s oil fields amounted to $521.9 million in the second half of 2023.
This is however lower than the $696.815 million secured in the same period of 2022.
No reasons have yet been attributed to the drop in proceeds.
Meanwhile, the sad development comes particularly at a time when the government is in dire need of funds to shore up its domestic revenue in the wake of the closure of the international capital markets to the country.
Growing U.S. oil inventories sent crude oil prices sliding by a dollar a barrel in Wednesday’s trading. Investors fear the growing crude inventory could result in less demand for oil in the nation.
West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark, dropped $1.23 or 1.6% to settle at $76.64 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Oil majors are targeting new oilfields that can be profitable even if oil prices fall to about $30 per barrel, using a third year of rising demand to reshape portfolios amid uncertainty over the industry’s future.
State-owned Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) has acquired a 20% additional stake in the Mnazi Bay natural gas project. In a deal worth $23.6 million, the acquisition brings the TPDC’s total share in the project to 40%.
A push to replenish depleted oil stocks notably in China, the United States and Europe could buoy demand and prices in coming months, analysts and traders said, as tensions in the Middle East threaten key shipping lanes.
Portugal’s Galp Energia, the company that reported positive indications of hydrocarbons from an exploration well in Namibia’s Orange Basin, says it has invested more than N$7,2 billion towards upstream projects, including an exploration campaign in Namibia during 2023.
Ghana Gas Company Limited is expected to acquire Ghana Cylinder Manufacturing Company (GCMC) Limited by the end of the first quarter of 2024.
Disruptions to shipping in the Red Sea and via the Suez Canal are raising the prices of African and U.S. crude grades.
Brent crude sees stronger backwardation.
Analysts expect drawdowns in global stocks this month and next to support oil prices.
Fitch Ratings: geopolitical instability in the Middle East continues to drive upward risk for oil.
Increasing regulatory uncertainty is also a risk for oil and gas firms.
Fitch Ratings has also predicted that large spare OPEC+ capacity of over 5 million barrels of oil is likely to dampen the oil price rally.
OPEC only partially delivered new oil production cuts in the first month of its latest supply pact, according to a report from the group.