The Contributions of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation Towards Sustainability Efforts in Upstream Oil and Gas Operations in Ghana

The oil and gas sector is at a crossroad in contributing to sustainable development. Some of their operations may deliver wealth, but these benefits come at a substantial cost to sustainability efforts. Amid this competing and contradicting debate, what role should national oil companies (NOCs) such as the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation play to achieve sustainability? Using empirical data, interviews with GNPC officials, policymakers, activists, community leaders and practitioners, we examined GNPC’s sustainability pathways based on three main scenarios: Sustainable Development Scenario (SDS), Net Zero 2050 Scenario and the Rapid Transition Scenario. Our findings suggest that GNPC sustainability performance largely remains to be seen. However, GNPC is on course to become a world-class oil company and to meet some of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), except SDGs 4, 10 and 16. From the scenario analysis there is the need for GNPC to consider transformational and innovative pathways of transitioning to an Integrated Oil/Energy Company to be more sustainable and remain locally and globally relevant to be able to meet the dynamic energy needs of the Ghanaian economy.