Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the Energy Minister, has unveiled the government’s plans to make the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) one of the premium refineries in the West African sub-region.
Dr Opuko Prempeh said that the government would offer support to TOR in the form of a strategic partnership with the aim of making the refinery operate to its fullest potential.
He made these remarks during his first familiarisation visit and interaction with staff and management of the refinery in Tema.
TOR, established in 1963, is Ghana’s only refinery, which refines crude oil into various petroleum products including liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), gasoline (petrol), kerosene, gas oil (diesel), aviation turbine kerosene, and premix among others.
Dr Opuku Prempeh stressed that TOR would not be broken up or go through divestiture under the current government, as it remained a strategic asset in the Energy Ministry’s portfolio.
He said that to achieve its aims, workers and management of TOR must work together in unity to turn the fortunes of the refinery around.
He assured the workers that the ministry would ensure that regulations by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) did not affect the refinery adversely but rather assisted it to achieve its goals and objectives.
Back to life
Francis A T Boateng, the managing director of TOR, expressed gratitude to Dr Opoku Prempeh for choosing the refinery as the first institution to visit since his swearing-in as the Energy Minister.
He described it as an honour and privilege, as it showed the minister’s commitment to helping bring TOR back to life, a promise he gave during his vetting.
Boateng said the completion and commission of the second furnace of the refinery, which exploded in January 2017, would return TOR to its original capacity of 45,000 barrels per stream day, which will double its revenue generation potential.
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