The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) must move beyond resilience and focus squarely on renewed investment, production growth and long term sustainability, Energy and Green Transition Minister Dr John Abdulai Jinapor has said.
His call came as GNPC marked 40 years of operations at its 3rd Annual General Meeting held at the Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra.
The AGM, held under the theme “40 Years of Resilience,” reviewed the Corporation’s progress while setting out priorities for the next phase of Ghana’s petroleum industry.
From resilience to renewal
Dr Jinapor commended GNPC for navigating a difficult operating environment but said the sector could not afford to remain focused on managing decline.
“Government welcomes these achievements, but our focus must now shift from resilience to renewal, growth, and long-term sustainability,” he said.
Ghana’s mature oil fields are becoming more demanding, requiring sophisticated reservoir management, enhanced recovery techniques, infill drilling and timely investment to sustain production.
The Minister said the country must also move quickly to develop existing discoveries and replenish reserves.
“Every barrel produced must increasingly be replenished through the addition of new reserves,” he stressed.
New resources on the radar
Dr Jinapor pointed to Pecan, Eban-Akoma, Afina, Pecan North, Almond and Beech as opportunities that could support the next phase of upstream growth.
He also identified marginal and stranded resources as areas requiring attention, while urging technically disciplined exploration of frontier prospects such as the Voltaian Basin.
The government’s position is that Ghana cannot continue relying indefinitely on international operators to undertake virtually every aspect of upstream development.
Dr Jinapor therefore reaffirmed support for building GNPC’s operatorship capacity, allowing the national oil company to take on greater responsibility and retain more value from the country’s petroleum resources.
GNPC widens social investment
The Corporation’s role also extends beyond oil and gas production.
In 2025, GNPC invested US$6.57 million in Corporate Social Investment programmes covering education, healthcare, skills development, community infrastructure, economic empowerment and institutional capacity building.
The Corporation also continued efforts to strengthen its environmental, social and governance framework and reporting practices.
For GNPC, the next chapter is increasingly about what comes after four decades of building institutional resilience. The pressure now is to translate that foundation into new reserves, higher production, stronger operatorship and greater value for Ghana.
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