GNPC targets first Voltaian Basin exploration well by end of 2026

The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) is preparing to drill its first exploration well in the Voltaian Basin by the end of 2026, as it advances efforts to assess the area’s hydrocarbon potential.

Chief Executive Officer of GNPC, Kwame Ntow Amoah, said years of geological and geophysical studies had brought the project to the drilling preparation stage, with a key component of the well construction process already delivered to the site.

Speaking at the 2026 Petroleum Commission Local Content Conference and Exhibition, he said the conductor casing had been procured and transported to the drilling location.

“The conductor casing, the first step in the well construction process, has arrived. And having transported it to the drilling site, we hope to complete all the contractual processes to enable a rig to be mobilised to the drilling site by the end of the year,” he said.

Mr Amoah said the exploration programme would provide an opportunity to strengthen Ghanaian expertise in onshore petroleum operations, logistics, engineering support, environmental management and project execution.

He said the knowledge and technical capabilities developed through the project would remain valuable regardless of whether drilling results in a commercial hydrocarbon discovery.

“Exploration carries uncertainty, but the knowledge and capabilities we build will endure whatever the drilling outcome is,” he said.

The GNPC Chief Executive said Ghana needed to reduce its dependence on existing producing fields, including Jubilee, TEN and Sankofa, by expanding exploration and developing other petroleum resources.

“It is simply too risky to depend on Jubilee, TEN, and Sankofa alone,” he said.

He noted that the approval of the Greater Jubilee gas development plan, alongside progress towards further investment in Sankofa and Gye Nyame, presented opportunities for Ghanaian contractors, professionals and service companies.

Mr Amoah also disclosed that GNPC was working with the Energy Minister to establish and operationalise additional subsidiaries with distinct mandates.

The proposed entities are expected to capture value from oil and gas trading and provide shared services to GNPC and the wider energy sector.

He said the subsidiaries would create opportunities for partnerships with Ghanaian and international entities, with a possible pathway to listing on the Ghana Stock Exchange to broaden local participation through individual and corporate share ownership.

The GNPC CEO announced that the Corporation had enrolled the first cohort of its Graduate Training Programme, which will provide two years of experiential training for 75 newly employed graduates.

He said the programme was designed to develop the graduates into future leaders of GNPC and Ghana’s petroleum industry.

Mr Amoah said the initiative formed part of the Corporation’s broader efforts to develop local expertise, strengthen indigenous businesses and retain more value from the country’s petroleum resources.

He also highlighted GNPC’s marginal fields development programme, which is designed to unlock resources estimated at approximately one billion barrels of oil and 2.5 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas.

He said the Corporation’s cluster-based development strategy was intended to combine otherwise stranded resources into commercially viable projects.

“GNPC's cluster-based development strategy seeks to convert these otherwise stranded resources into viable and scalable projects,” he said.

He added that the Corporation planned to create commercial structures that would allow local participation, including through lower-risk share offer arrangements for the proposed development clusters.

The Voltaian Basin is one of Ghana’s frontier petroleum exploration areas. GNPC has undertaken geological and geophysical studies in the basin over several years to assess its hydrocarbon potential.

The Corporation says it is now working to complete the contractual arrangements required to mobilise a drilling rig to the site by the end of 2026.