Ghana’s upstream petroleum sector is poised for a major resurgence, with investment commitments totalling $3.5 billion from the Jubilee and ENI partnerships, according to the Ghana Investment Promotion Authority (GIPA).
Simon Madjie, CEO of GIPA, disclosed the figure on Joy News’ PM Express Business Edition on Thursday, describing the commitments as clear evidence of renewed activity in a sector that had suffered six consecutive years of production decline.
“The announcements by the Jubilee partners through Kosmos and Co. that they were going to invest $2 billion to drill 20 wells in the Jubilee field,” Madjie said, adding: “We saw the $1.5 billion announcement by ENI and their partners and co., and so there’s a lot of activity within that space.”
The Jubilee Commitment
The $2 billion investment by the Jubilee partners follows the ratification by Ghana’s Parliament in February 2026 of licence extensions for the West Cape Three Points and Deepwater Tano Petroleum Agreements, securing the future of the Jubilee and TEN fields until 2040.
The partnership — comprising Tullow Oil (operator, 38.98%), Kosmos Energy (38.61%), Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC, 19.69%), and South Africa’s PetroSA (2.72%) — has committed to drilling up to 20 additional wells in the Jubilee field under an amended Plan of Development. The extensions are expected to deliver up to $2 billion in incremental investment and increase the supply of affordable gas for domestic power generation to approximately 130 million standard cubic feet per day.
Operational results are already visible. The J74 well, which came on stream in early January 2026, is producing approximately 13,000 barrels of oil per day, lifting average gross Jubilee output to more than 70,000 barrels per day. The first well in the 2026 five-well drilling campaign, J75, has been successfully drilled, encountering around 40 metres of net pay.
The partnership has also signed a sale and purchase agreement to acquire the TEN FPSO Prof. John Evans Atta Mills for $205 million, a move expected to deliver material operating cost reductions from 2026 onwards.
ENI’s $1.5 Billion Push
The ENI commitment builds on a Memorandum of Intent signed in 2025, which outlined a proposed investment of approximately $1.5 billion in Ghana’s upstream petroleum sector. In September 2026, the government signed two new Memoranda of Understanding with ENI Ghana, Vitol Upstream Tano Ltd, and GNPC covering offshore acreages GH WB 3 and GH WB 8 in the Tano Basin.
The two blocks cover approximately 2,100 square kilometres, with water depths ranging from 750 to 2,800 metres, and are strategically located close to existing producing fields and petroleum infrastructure. The agreements are expected to pave the way for the finalisation of Petroleum Agreements and move the proposed investment closer to concrete exploration and production activities.
New Frontier Interest
Beyond the existing producing fields, Madjie pointed to significant interest in Ghana’s frontier acreages. Chevron and Shell signed a memorandum of understanding at Africa Oil Week 2026 in Accra to explore opportunities in the Eastern Keta Basin. The agreement, signed on September 1, 2026, also covers the South Deepwater Tano Cape Three Points block, alongside further exploration prospects in the Voltaian Basin, Eastern Basin, and Outer Continental Shelf.
Brazil’s Petrobras has also entered negotiations for four offshore blocks in the Accra-Keta Basin. Ghana’s Ministry of Energy and Green Transition approved the company’s application to negotiate the acreage in August 2026, though no exploration agreement has yet been signed. Petrobras’ interest is driven in part by geological similarities between the Ghanaian blocks and Brazil’s Equatorial Margin, according to the company’s head of exploration and production.
“But what we all know is that at Africa Oil Week, Chevron and Shell signed an MOU to look at work in the Eastern Keta Basin. So that’s ongoing,” Madjie said.
ExxonMobil Talks Acknowledged
Asked about ExxonMobil, Madjie confirmed that discussions had taken place over a possible return to Ghana but declined to disclose further information. “I knew that there were some talks for them to come back. It’s not something that can be disclosed now,” he said, directing further inquiries to the Minister of Energy and the Petroleum Commission.
ExxonMobil had previously exited Ghana’s oil sector, and its potential return would represent a significant vote of confidence in the country’s upstream prospects.
A Sector in Recovery
The investment wave comes after a prolonged period of decline. Ghana’s crude oil production fell from 71.44 million barrels in 2019 to 37.3 million barrels in 2025 — a sixth consecutive annual decline — according to the Public Interest and Accountability Committee. The Jubilee field produced 22.21 million barrels in 2025, Sankofa-Gye Nyame 9.26 million, and TEN 5.83 million.
Exploration activity had also slowed dramatically, with only six exploration wells drilled between 2015 and 2024, compared with 28 between 2009 and 2014. The Petroleum Commission linked the production decline partly to the absence of new producing fields.
The picture is now changing. President John Dramani Mahama announced in June 2026 that Ghana was set to record a net increase in crude oil production for the first time in several years, with Jubilee output rising from 60,000 to 85,000 barrels per day and measurable gains at the TEN and Sankofa fields. Between January and May 2026 alone, Ghana produced 17.1 million barrels of crude oil.
The government has also initiated the commercialisation of the Afina Discovery and ratified a new petroleum agreement in the offshore Tano West basin.
Madjie deferred technical questions about the developments to the Petroleum Commission and the Ministry of Energy. “I’m sure folks at the Petroleum Commission will give you a lot more technical details,” he said.
