The ingredients are in place for a smooth transition to newfound prosperity, but time will tell if the country is successful.

Introduction

The discoveries made in 2007 at two offshore sites—West Cape Three Points and Deepwater Tano (now known as the Jubilee Fields)—heralded a seismic shift in the history of Ghanaian oil exploration. Estimates of oil reserves range from 800 million to 1.8 billion barrels of light sweet crude. Most believe these numbers do not represent the sum of Ghana’s oil reserves; further exploration projects are leading the government to ...