Introduction

The legal framework guiding the conduct of petroleum operations in Ghana, and the contractual framework that was established to regulate the relationship between the Government of Ghana and the international oil companies (IOCs), was developed in the mid-1980's following the creation of the national oil company, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) in 1983. GNPC served as the government agency under whose control petroleum sector activity would take place. This was largely the case until 2011 when the Petroleum Commission was established "for the regulation and the management of ...