- PIAC Unable to Assess Use of Petroleum Revenues as Finance Ministry Withholds Data
Ghana earned substantially more from petroleum during the first half of 2026, but PIAC could not establish how all the money was used because the Ministry of Finance failed to provide the necessary information.
That contradiction sits at the centre of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee’s 2026 Semi-Annual Report. Petroleum receipts increased by 52 per cent to US$561.41 million, yet PIAC omitted its entire chapter on revenue utilisation because the Ministry did not submit the requested data.
For a country whose petroleum-revenue law is built around transparency, the omission is not an administrative footnote. It removes the part of the report that should connect national income to public expenditure and demonstrate whether oil wealth produced identifiable economic and social benefits.
PIAC, established under the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, is required to monitor how petroleum revenues are managed and used. It has published 30 reports since its creation. Its effectiveness, however, depends on public institutions supplying complete and timely information.
When the Ministry of Finance withholds or delays utilisation data, Parliament, citizens and the media lose the ability to examine whether allocations were released as approved, spent on designated programmes and converted into measurable outcomes. Accountability becomes strongest around how much entered the system and weakest around what happened afterwards.
The missing chapter is especially troubling because petroleum receipts recorded a significant rebound. Revenue rose from US$370.34 million in the first half of 2025 to US$561.41 million in the corresponding period of 2026. PIAC attributed the increase mainly to higher realised crude-oil prices and a 37 per cent rise in corporate income-tax collections.
Crude production also improved. PIAC reported that output increased by 11.73 per cent, from 18.42 million barrels to 20.58 million barrels, supported principally by stronger production from the Jubilee and Sankofa-Gye Nyame fields.
However, the press statement contains an apparent inconsistency that requires clarification. Its recommendations say receipts were driven principally by prices rather than production, “which rose by only 2.7 per cent”, while the findings report production growth of 11.73 per cent. The broader warning about volatile prices remains valid, but the conflicting figures should be reconciled in the detailed report or formally corrected.
PIAC advised the Ministry to treat the revenue increase as temporary rather than a permanent expansion of Ghana’s fiscal capacity. Any receipts above the Benchmark Revenue should be transferred promptly to the Ghana Petroleum Funds in accordance with the law.
The report also raises questions about GNPC’s use of petroleum funds. The national oil company received US$85.98 million, representing 39.9 per cent of the carried and participating interest allocation. Of US$40.14 million received as Jubilee Equity Financing, only US$23.45 million went towards Jubilee production and development costs.
The remaining US$16.69 million, together with GNPC’s Level B receipts, financed non-field expenditure, including staff costs and construction of the corporation’s head office. PIAC consequently called on GNPC to account for the portion of Jubilee financing not applied to Jubilee costs.
This is more than an accounting classification. Money released for equity-financing obligations is intended to protect Ghana’s participating interest and ensure that the state can meet verified cash calls associated with petroleum production. Redirecting part of it towards administrative or capital expenditure weakens the link between the statutory purpose of the allocation and its actual use.
PIAC recommended that GNPC apply Level A receipts strictly to field production and development costs. It also urged the Ministry of Finance to link future releases to verified operator cash calls. Such a control would reduce discretion and ensure that funding follows demonstrable obligations rather than broader institutional preferences.
Revenue collection presents another concern. Surface-rental arrears stood at about US$2.41 million at the end of June, excluding US$1.73 million owed under terminated petroleum agreements. PIAC acknowledged the Ghana Revenue Authority’s recovery efforts but called for decisive enforcement against persistent defaulters, including penalties and interest.
It further recommended that settlement of outstanding arrears become a precondition for the renegotiation, renewal or reallocation of petroleum contract areas, including the ongoing renegotiation involving Swiss African Oil Company.
The principle is straightforward: companies should not receive renewed access to Ghana’s petroleum assets while carrying unresolved obligations from existing agreements. Without credible sanctions, arrears can become an informal and interest-free form of financing provided by the state to operators.
The mid-year assessment nevertheless records important operational progress. Gas flaring declined markedly across the Jubilee, TEN and Sankofa-Gye Nyame fields, with PIAC commending operators for improved compliance with Environmental Protection Authority-approved limits.
PIAC wants that progress extended to gas venting, recommending a monitoring and reporting system involving the EPA, Petroleum Commission and Energy Commission. Flaring data alone cannot provide a complete picture of gas losses and upstream emissions if vented volumes remain inadequately measured.
The report also points to continuing pressure within the domestic gas chain. Although payments by the Volta River Authority and regular cash-waterfall receipts improved predictability, the total value collected by the Ghana National Gas Company declined by 17.53 per cent year on year.
Weak collections threaten Ghana Gas’s ability to make upstream payments to GNPC and may eventually undermine the reliability of gas infrastructure and supply. PIAC therefore urged the company to reduce receivables and consolidate payment discipline among major customers.
Production growth does not eliminate longer-term investment concerns. PIAC welcomed government efforts to attract companies, including recent memoranda with Shell and Chevron, but called for a framework to stimulate investment in existing fields, particularly TEN, where output has underperformed initial expectations.
The report ultimately presents two versions of Ghana’s petroleum story. One is encouraging: production recovered, receipts increased and flaring declined. The other is institutional: arrears persist, gas-sector cash flows remain strained, GNPC used designated financing for non-field expenditure and the Ministry prevented full scrutiny by withholding utilisation data.
The second story determines whether the first produces durable public value. Higher receipts matter only when they are transparently allocated, lawfully spent and converted into development results. Until the Ministry supplies the missing information, Ghana can celebrate earning more from oil, but cannot fully demonstrate what citizens received in return.
