Interim environmental influence of oil exploration on human lives in Ghana: a case of Half Assini and Efaso

This paper focused on the interim environmental influence of oil and gas exploration activities on human lives in the Half Assini and Efaso communities in Jomoro District of the Western region of Ghana. Two stage sampling technique was used. It employed purposive sampling of residents living in the Jubilee Oil field environs. After, simple random sampling was used to select 300 respondents from the study area out of a population of about 8,000. The factors of adverse environmental change as a result of oil exploration considered in the study include air, noise and visual pollution. The multinomial logistic estimation model revealed that the likelihood of perception of air pollution’s influence on the environment was positively and significantly related to oil exploration. That of noise pollution was not significant. Visual pollution (disposal of sea weeds) was likewise an eyesore at the beach.   Key words: Interim environmental influence, exploration activities, adverse environmental change, environmental pollution, Half Assini, and Efaso communities.