Victoria Emeafa Hardcastle, Acting CEO of the Petroleum Commission of Ghana, will participate as a featured speaker at this year’s African Energy Week (AEW): Invest in African Energies 2025, taking place from September 29 to October 3 in Cape Town. Her participation underscores Ghana’s ambition to accelerate upstream activity, attract new investment and consolidate its role as a competitive E&P hub in West Africa.

The Petroleum Commission continues to spearhead Ghana’s upstream drive, advancing new licensing opportunities, streamlining regulatory processes and introducing reforms that enhance competitiveness. With 17 oil and gas projects scheduled for development by 2027, Ghana is working to expand exploration, ramp up production and deepen private sector participation.

Recent initiatives include a promotion, marketing and revenue-sharing agreement with the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) covering data from the Voltaian Basin – one of the country’s largest onshore sedimentary basins. The deal lays the groundwork for future upstream licensing and underscores Ghana’s intent to unlock untapped onshore hydrocarbon potential, with GNPC planning to drill its first exploration well in the basin in early 2026.

In April, the Commission also convened its first official engagement with the Ghana Upstream Petroleum Chamber since Hardcastle’s appointment, addressing regulatory compliance, local participation and investment barriers. The dialogue highlighted both challenges and opportunities, with commitments from both sides to strengthen Ghana’s upstream investment climate.

Ghana’s upstream portfolio continues to expand, with both new projects and brownfield developments advancing. After bringing three new wells onstream at Jubilee South East, Tullow Oil plans additional drilling in 2025, while Eni is paving the way for the development of its Eban-Akoma discovery in the Cape Three Points 4 deepwater block. Kosmos Energy has pledged $2 billion toward upstream expansion, signaling long-term confidence in Ghana’s oil sector. Together, these initiatives reflect Ghana’s strategy to counter natural declines in mature fields, ramp up production and attract sustained international investment.

“Strong partnerships are essential to advancing Africa’s E&P industry. Ghana is demonstrating how reforms, proactive regulation and private sector engagement can translate into sustainable growth and opportunity,” stated Tomás Gerbasio, VP of Commercial and Strategic Engagement at the African Energy Chamber.