No oil well has been brought on stream in 8 years – Mahama’s claim rated FALSE

Claim:No oil well has been brought on stream in Ghana in 8 years

Source: John Mahama

Verdict: FALSE

Researched by Sedem Kwasigah

Ghana’s former president and leading opposition candidate on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has claimed that the current government has not added any new oil well to the country’s portfolio of hyrdrocarbon assets in 8 years.

“Production in our oil and gas sector. The last 8 years have been wasted years. Not one single oil well has been brought on stream. When we came into office, there was only one oil well, the Jubilee field. During the four years of my presidency, we worked and brought two more oil fields, the TEN field and the Gye Nyame – Sankofa back on stream. We brought two new oil wells on stream, and so we handed over three new producing oil wells, one old well, and three new producing wells to the NPP administration. they have not added a single one in 8 years,” the former President said in his address to a crowd. (17:50-19:00)

This report seeks to verify whether no oil well has been brought on stream in Ghana in 8 years.

Fact-Check

To verify the claim, GhanaFact used information from the Public Interest Accountability Committee (PIAC), an organisation set up to assess the management and use of petroleum revenues.

According to the 2023 PIAC Annual Report, only three oil fields currently produce Ghana’s oil. 

“Crude oil in Ghana is currently produced from three fields, namely Jubilee, TEN, and the Sankofa Gye-Nyame (SGN). First oil from the Jubilee Field was achieved in December 2010 while TEN and SGN came on stream in August 2016 and May 2017 respectively,” the report states (Page 23). 

In 2023, six new wells were drilled and five had been completed on the Jubilee field, page 17 of the report revealed. Out of the six, three of the wells have gone on stream, namely J63-P, J61-P, and J66-P. 

“On the Jubilee Field, two new wells J61-P and J63-P came online in July 2023 to augment the overall field production. The J66-P well was brought online in September 2023 to complete the Jubilee South-East project expansion work scope which resulted in a peak production rate of 100,950.60 bbl/d,” the report said.

In 2022, PIAC again reported (page 12) that drilling operations completed at least seven (7) wells in the previous year on the TEN and the Jubilee fields.

A closer assessment of the statement by the former president show while he said not one single oil well has been brought on stream in the last 8 years, he cited examples of oil fields to back his claim and the two (oil wells and oil fields) are not the same. 

An oil well is a hole dug into the earth that brings oil or other hydrocarbons such as natural gas to the surface while an oil field is an area with reserves of recoverable petroleum, especially one with several oil-producing wells. 

So, while it is evident that no new oil field was discovered in 8 years, some new wells have been completed and brought on stream.

Verdict

Therefore, the claim is rated false.