ACCRA - Ghana has experienced a heady 12 months since joining the club of oil-producing nations in December 2010, with hydrocarbons set to boost its economic growth rate to one of the highest in the world this year.
Yet the euro-zone debt crisis has taken some of the shine off the story as increasingly risk-averse investors pull back from the frontier African markets to which they once flocked, while concern about a global slowdown has hit prices of commodities such as cocoa, a mainstay of the Ghanian economy.
President John Atta Mills knows his chances of winning an election in late 2012 depend on convincing Ghanaians that their country's recent elevation to "lower-middle-income" status will benefit their lives.
Oil discoveries in the Jubilee offshore oilfield mean UK-listed operator Tullow Oil Plc is talking of two billion barrels or more of reserves under the Atlantic. Aside from the state-owned Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Tullow's major partners in Jubilee are US producer Anadarko Petroleum and US public energy firm Kosmos.
The partners originally said they aimed for output of 250000 barrels per day by 2013, putting them among the world's top 50 producers. But that is open to question due to delays in hitting first phase plateau production of 120000 bpd, now seen happening early next year because of under-performance by a major well.
Ghana is the world's second largest cocoa producer behind Ivory Coast. Its sector regulators say they expect it to produce about 850000 tonnes of cocoa this season after a record over one million tonnes in the 2010/2011 season.
So far this harvest has been strong, up 9.4% on last year for the season to December 1. But cocoa prices on the world market have hit three-year lows as investors dumped commodities amid doubts Europe can forge a deal to end its debt crisis.
Spot prices of gold - of which Ghana is the second largest African producer after South Africa - have also taken a hit due to the euro-zone crisis and were at seven-week lows in mid-December.
In revised data released in mid-October, the statistical office said Ghana's economy expanded by 16.4% in the second quarter of 2011 mainly on oil production.
The government lowered slightly its projected growth for 2011 to 13.6% from the 14.4% programmed in revised budget estimates approved by parliament in July. This is broadly in line with an IMF forecast of 13% for the year.
Oil boosts Ghana's economy to record level
ACCRA - Ghana has experienced a heady 12 months since joining the club of oil-producing nations in December 2010, with hydrocarbons set to boost its economic growth rate to one of the highest in the world this year.
Yet the euro-zone debt crisis has taken some of the shine off the story as increasingly risk-averse investors pull back from the frontier African markets to which they once flocked, while concern about a global slowdown has hit prices of commodities such as cocoa, a mainstay of the Ghanian economy.
President John Atta Mills knows his chances of winning an election in late 2012 depend on convincing Ghanaians that their country's recent elevation to "lower-middle-income" status will benefit their lives.
Oil discoveries in the Jubilee offshore oilfield mean UK-listed operator Tullow Oil Plc is talking of two billion barrels or more of reserves under the Atlantic. Aside from the state-owned Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Tullow's major partners in Jubilee are US producer Anadarko Petroleum and US public energy firm Kosmos.
The partners originally said they aimed for output of 250000 barrels per day by 2013, putting them among the world's top 50 producers. But that is open to question due to delays in hitting first phase plateau production of 120000 bpd, now seen happening early next year because of under-performance by a major well.
Ghana is the world's second largest cocoa producer behind Ivory Coast. Its sector regulators say they expect it to produce about 850000 tonnes of cocoa this season after a record over one million tonnes in the 2010/2011 season.
So far this harvest has been strong, up 9.4% on last year for the season to December 1. But cocoa prices on the world market have hit three-year lows as investors dumped commodities amid doubts Europe can forge a deal to end its debt crisis.
Spot prices of gold - of which Ghana is the second largest African producer after South Africa - have also taken a hit due to the euro-zone crisis and were at seven-week lows in mid-December.
In revised data released in mid-October, the statistical office said Ghana's economy expanded by 16.4% in the second quarter of 2011 mainly on oil production.
The government lowered slightly its projected growth for 2011 to 13.6% from the 14.4% programmed in revised budget estimates approved by parliament in July. This is broadly in line with an IMF forecast of 13% for the year.
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