Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Upstream Petroleum Chamber, David Ampofo, says the problem with the upstream petroleum industry is the lack of new investment in the sector.

According to him, currently the upstream industry has plateaued largely due to the failure of government to attract new investment into the sector.

Speaking on PM Express Business Edition, he noted that a remedy to the problem was for the government to make the sector much more attractive for investors rather than taking up an adversarial role.

“You’ll have to replace the reserves as you go on. If you’re producing from the same place over the last ten years then obviously you will plateau. New resources must come on stream, new deals must be done, new investors must come in, somebody is working here, somebody is working there… that expands it,” he said.

He continued, “Something is definitely wrong with the investment environment in my view, there’s room to improve. And I think part of it is also overall perception of the industry, we must overcome that. If we perceive oil investors as just there to exploit us and so on, we’ll be in no hurry to work with them. That must change.

“Remember that these are private investors who are risking capital, and significant amounts of capital that they invest, they bring into the country…and they’re seeking returns. It is possible to have a win-win situation. We don’t have to see it as adversarial like some people are getting this, we could be getting more, we’re not getting that much, that’s not the way to perceive it.

“The way to perceive it is to create a much more attractive environment that enables companies to make those investments,” he said.