Richard Ellimah
Ghana’s total petroleum revenue increased by 52% to $561.41 million in the first half of 2026, up from US$370.34 million recorded in the same period in 2025 as a result of higher achieved crude oil prices during the period and a corresponding 37% increase in Corporate Income Tax collections.
Highlights of the 2026 Semi-Annual Report of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) indicates that the increase in revenue was accompanied by an 11.73 per cent rise in crude oil production to 20.58 million barrels, from 18.42 million barrels in the first half of 2025, driven mainly by increased output from the Jubilee and SGN fields.
“Total petroleum receipts for the period increased by 52 percent, from US$370,343,681.17 in H1 2025 to US$561,408,307.36 in H1 2026, driven mainly by significantly higher achieved crude oil prices during the period and a corresponding 37 percent increase in Corporate Income Tax collections,” he said.
“For period-by-period comparison, crude oil production increased by 11.73 percent, from 18,415,410.74 bbls in H1 2025 to 20,575,376.56 bbls in H1 2026, primarily due to increased output in the Jubilee and SGN fields,” it stated.
PIAC cautioned that the increase in petroleum receipts was driven largely by higher crude oil prices rather than significant growth in production, urging the government to treat the additional revenue as volatile.
Speaking at the pre-launch media briefing on the 2026 Semi-Annual Report on the management and use of the country’s petroleum revenues, PIAC Chair, Richard Ellimah stated that the rise in receipts was attributable mainly to higher achieved crude oil prices during the period, alongside a 37% increase in Corporate Income Tax collections.
The committee further recommended that any petroleum revenue exceeding the benchmark revenue should continue to be transferred promptly to the Ghana Petroleum Funds in accordance with the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, 2011 (Act 815).
The report also said despite improvement in crude oil production, government should strengthen efforts to attract investment into existing producing fields and explore new petroleum basins though it acknowledged government’s efforts to attract investors, including recent memorandum of understanding with Shell and Chevron.
The 15th Semi-Annual Report and 30th statutory report by PIAC urged the government, through the Petroleum Commission, to develop measures to boost investment in existing producing fields, particularly the Tweneboa-Enyenra-Ntomme (TEN) field, where production has underperformed initial projections.
The report also highlighted persistent challenges in the recovery of surface rental payments owed by petroleum operators stating that surface rental arrears stood at approximately US$2.41 million at the end of the first half of 2026.
By Ebenezer K. Amponsah
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