The Ghana Upstream Petroleum Chamber has held its 2023 Ghana Oil and Gas Conference.
The well attended conference brought together over 500 participants from industry, government, banking, academia and numerous professional services with an interest in oil and gas.
The 2-day conference had the theme “Prospects and Opportunities in the oil and gas industry. The highly patronized event included delegations from Nigeria and from Trinidad and Tobago.
The Chamber launched its 2023 industry report – a comprehensive and up to date documentation of the state of the industry at both the global and local level.
The report provides an overview of the industry with reference to key issues in 2022 such as oil production, gas production, gas for power generation and the economic benefits of gas.
It also highlights the contribution of the sector to the economy and the global outlook for oil and gas.
It ends with some recommendations centered around increasing incentives for exploration, optimizing domestic gas utilization and taking advantage of the opportunities provided by the energy transition.
The CEO of the Chamber, David Ampofo described Ghana’s oil and gas industry as an untapped frontier with enormous potential both onshore and offshore adding ” there is much to be done to realise its full potential “.
He said even though there is potential for substantial revenue to be earned from oil, the real game changer lies with natural gas to power the nations industrialization vision.
In his comments, Joe Mensah, Senior Vice President for Kosmos Energy who also serves as Chairman for the Chamber said the industry is working urgently with government to agree an acceptable price to both parties for the gas being produced offshore to enable the necessary investment to take place.
He cited the recent upturn in production from the Jubilee South East field as an example of what is possible when industry and government collaborate.
In remarks read on his behalf by the Director of Upstream Petroleum at the Ministry of Energy, James Yamoah, the Minister of Energy said the government is committed to closing any infrastructure gaps facing the industry and improve the market to ensure that the country gets the most out of its hydrocarbon resources.
The subject of the energy transition was never far from the presentations and panel discussions with the generally agreed position that there is still a place for oil and gas in the foreseeable future.
The conference was characterized by highly informative presentations and panel discussions from a host of experienced presenters from the GNPC, the Petroleum Commission, local oilfield service companies and the operator of the Jubilee field, Tullow Oil.
