Ghana’s state oil company will begin drilling in the vast onshore Voltaian Basin by early 2026, a move officials say could open a new petroleum frontier for the West African producer.

The acting head of the Petroleum Commission, Victoria Emeafa Hardcastle, said the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) is looking to carry out the first exploration campaign in the basin, which lies in the east of the country.

“This is a strategic project for Ghana’s energy future,” Citi News quoted Hardcastle as saying during a visit to Zeal Environmental Technologies, a local petroleum service provider, in the Western Region. 

“We want to position Ghana as a competitive hub for supermajors while ensuring our own companies are ready to benefit from the opportunities ahead.”

Ghana currently produces around 150,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd), mainly from offshore fields including Jubilee, TEN and Sankofa. Opening the Voltaian Basin – an area long believed to hold hydrocarbons but never drilled – could diversify supply and extend the country’s production horizon beyond the maturing offshore blocks.

Analysts cited by Citi News say success in the basin would be a major boost for Accra, which is seeking new revenue streams as it grapples with debt restructuring and efforts to stabilise the cedi. 

Hardcastle urged indigenous companies such as Zeal Environmental Technologies, which specialises in petroleum waste management, to scale up in readiness. “Local service firms must play a bigger role in the value chain if Ghana is to maximise the benefits,” she said.

The Petroleum Commission, created by law in 2011 to regulate the upstream sector, has stepped up efforts to deepen collaboration with domestic firms even as it woos foreign investors.

Zeal founder Kwaku Ennin welcomed the engagement, but stressed that policy certainty and attractive fiscal terms are key. “We need the government to make Ghana’s oil and gas industry more competitive for investors,” he said.

The Voltaian Basin covers nearly 103,000 square kilometres, making it one of the largest unexplored onshore basins in West Africa. It is in the north-central part of Ghana, where the elevation rarely exceeds 150 metres, and is dominated by Lake Volta, an artificial lake that extends far into the central part of the country behind the Akosombo Dam. The basin is a sedimentary Neoproterozoic basin, with similarities to areas in North Africa and elsewhere already producing significant volumes of hydrocarbons.

Industry observers note that while exploration would be costly and risky, successful drilling in the Voltaian Basin could reposition Ghana in the league of Africa’s frontier producers at a time when global demand for hydrocarbons remains strong despite the energy transition.

Ghana’s petroleum revenues jumped nearly 28% in 2024 to hit $1.36bn, the second-highest annual take since commercial oil production began, despite a continued decline in crude output, an oversight body said in late August.

As reported by bne IntelliNews, the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), which monitors the management of petroleum funds, said the boost was driven largely by higher global oil prices, offsetting a five-year downward trend in production.

Crude oil production in Ghana fell to 48.24mn barrels, down from a 2019 peak of 71.44mn barrels, PIAC said. Gas output reached 280,511mn standard cubic feet (MMSCF), with the SGN field contributing nearly half. Some 44% of gas was reinjected, 41% exported, while 10% was flared.