Examining Ghana’s Petroleum Act, 2016 (Act 919) and Other Legislative Developments

The Petroleum Act, 2016, was largely enacted to deal with the inadequacies of the Petroleum Act, 1984. After the large-scale commercial discovery of 2007, the inadequacies of the Petroleum Act, 1984, became very evident as Ghana engaged the international oil companies (IOCs) and other actors, in operations. These inadequacies and gaps in the law had to be dealt with by inserting contractual provisions in future agreements entered into with other IOCs. These insertions were concretized into statute when the Petroleum Act, 2016, was enacted. The Petroleum Act, 2016, makes changes to certain positions under the Petroleum Act, 1984, introduces new provisions largely based on Ghana’s experiences in the industry as well as identified gaps in legislation, and allocates roles and responsibilities between the Minister for Energy, the national oil company, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation and the regulatory body formed after the large-scale commercial discovery, the Petroleum Commission. A number of subsidiary legislations have been enacted under the Petroleum Act, 2016, to also deal with different facets of operations in the industry such as metering (measuring of petroleum), data management, health, safety and environment, as well as general regulations.