Abstract:
Since Ghana attained independence in 1957, successive Governments have pursued, with varying degrees of success, policies, programmes and projects to accelerate the growth of the Ghanaian economy and raise the living standards of the people. These are policies, programmes and projects around which national and development partner’s efforts are coordinated. The discovery and exploration of oil, no doubt has increased Ghana revenue but this has not fully translated to socio-economic development as expected. The study therefore, seeks answers to the following questions; Has oil discovery and exploration accounts for high cost of living in Ghana? Has the discovery and exploration of oil in Ghana reduce the poverty level in Ghana? This study therefore, critically evaluated the impact of oil on the national development of Ghana. The study used the Marxist instrumentalist theory as a theoretical framework of analysis and adopted the secondary sources of data collection which included books, scholarly journals, pamphlets, monographs, newspapers, and magazines and governments. The ex-post facto research design and qualitative descriptive of documented evidence was used as a method of data analysis. The study affirmed that oil production in Ghana has not improved the economy as expected, high standard of living and unequal development persist despite foreign earning from petroleum resources. The study recommended amongst others, government policies and programmes that integrates the poor and boost economic growth.
