The Executive Secretary of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), Mr. Duncan Amoah, has called for urgent reforms in Ghana’s upstream petroleum sector to address significant revenue losses attributed to under-reporting of oil production volumes.
Speaking at the fifth anniversary of Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Ltd. (SML), Mr.Amoah highlighted the scale of financial leakage, citing data suggesting that Ghana loses between US$350 million and US$400 million annually due to discrepancies in declared oil volumes.
He stressed the need for government and regulatory agencies to adopt real-time monitoring technologies, similar to those successfully implemented in the downstream sector, to enhance transparency and fiscal accountability. Mr. Amoah pointed to the reported GH¢20 billion in downstream revenue recovered by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) with SML’s support as evidence of the impact digital systems can have when properly deployed. He argued that the upstream sector holds even greater revenue potential if similar oversight mechanisms are applied.
SML used the occasion to launch new real-time monitoring systems for both the upstream oil and solid minerals sectors. The company revealed that its upstream technology has already been deployed across Ghana’s three Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels, allowing for end-to-end tracking of hydrocarbons from production to export. The system uses a combination of flow meters, tank-level sensors, and offtake meters to deliver detailed data to government agencies in real time.
Additionally, SML introduced its Solid Mineral Monitoring System, which initially focuses on the gold sector. The platform leverages AI tools to analyse weight, purity, and composition of gold bars, helping authorities calculate royalties and trace the commodity throughout the supply chain. The system will be jointly managed by the GRA and the Minerals Commission. SML officials confirmed that both monitoring systems are expected to be fully operational by the third quarter of 2025, following successful integration with relevant industry stakeholders. The initiative aims to enhance resource governance, eliminate manual reporting gaps, and enable accurate revenue forecasting and reconciliation across Ghana’s extractive sectors