GHANA’S President John Mahama has issued a stark warning to oil producers: extract now or risk leaving valuable crude reserves buried forever as the world accelerates its shift to renewable energy.
Speaking at the Africa CEO Forum in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, on Tuesday, Mahama called for an aggressive ramp-up in oil production, saying Ghana must seize the narrowing window of demand before fossil fuels lose global relevance.
‘Oil is in transition. Everybody who has any assets should be pumping like there’s no tomorrow,’ Mahama declared. ‘I will lay a red carpet to anybody who wants to drill and pump oil because in the next decade or two, the world would have made a transition to renewables.’
The comments, reported by AFP, reflect mounting concerns among oil-producing African nations that slow development timelines and investor hesitancy could leave vast resources untapped as global decarbonisation efforts gather pace.
Regulatory gridlock blamed for slump
Mahama, who assumed office in January, accused the previous administration of Nana Akufo-Addo of sabotaging the sector through bureaucratic inertia and investor disputes.
‘The previous government had squabbles with Tullow, and there was a lot of disinvestment,’ he said. ‘ENI was held in contempt, and they had to move all their expatriate management to Cote d’Ivoire.’
According to the president, ENI has since resumed drilling operations in Ghana, signalling a possible rebound in investor confidence.
Output falls sharply as investment dries up
Ghana’s oil output has dropped significantly in recent years. Data from the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), the statutory watchdog on petroleum revenues, shows crude production fell from 71.44 million barrels in 2019 to just 48.25 million barrels in 2023—a 32 percent decline.
PIAC attributes the downturn to reduced investment in new wells and delays in regulatory approvals. Mahama said the decline must be reversed urgently if Ghana is to capitalise on its offshore assets.
The country’s key oil fields include Jubilee, operated by Tullow Oil; TEN, a joint venture including Kosmos Energy and PetroSA; and the Sankofa field, in which ENI and Ghana’s state-owned GNPC hold stakes.
Push for renewables not abandoned
Despite his forceful call for accelerated drilling, Mahama emphasised that Ghana remains committed to clean energy development. The country’s Renewable Energy Act mandates that at least 10 percent of its national energy mix must come from renewable sources.
‘We’re not abandoning our climate goals,’ he said. ‘But we must not leave our oil stuck in the ground while the world moves on.’
