Refining Ghanaian crude in Ghana keeps value onshore – TOR MD

Edmond Kombat, Managing Director (MD) of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), underscored the strategic importance of refining Ghanaian crude oil domestically, calling it a critical step toward retaining value in the national economy and fulfilling the President’s value-addition vision.

“Refining Ghanaian crude in Ghana keeps value onshore. It fulfils the value addition vision of the President for Ghana,” Mr Kombat said in his remarks at the Government Accountability Press Conference, at the Jubilee House in Accra.

He said the turnaround maintenance ran from August 1 to October 30, 2025, adding that after the maintenance works were completed, the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) inspected the plant, confirmed compliance with mandatory safety and operational requirements, and cleared TOR to resume refining.

He said crude processing started on December 19, 2025, with all product streams going to storage for the first time in years.

Mr Kombat said since May 2026, TOR has received four five-million-barrel crude cargoes: Bonga, Baleine, Bonnie Light, and, on July 15, Ghana’s Jubilee Medium Sweet crude, an indigenous crude delivered aboard MT Apache.

He said the TOR paid in full for the Jubilee cargo, making it the refinery’s first Jubilee cargo in a decade.

The MD said the President commissioned the refurbished Crude Distillation Unit on August 1, 2026.

Mr Kombat said the refinery then received another parcel of Ghanaian indigenous crude, 950,000 barrels of Sankofa crude, on 25 September 2026 from our sister agency, the Ghana National Petroleum Company (GNPC).

He noted that the refinery’s operations now represent a landmark achievement in the country’s petroleum sector.

“We are witnessing Ghanaian crude being refined by Ghanaian engineers in a Ghanaian refinery, effectively linking the Ghanaian petroleum upstream, midstream and downstream together,” he said.

The MD highlighted the role of strategic offtake partnerships in strengthening the domestic refining ecosystem.

“Our offtake partnerships, including our engagement with GOIL on the 2026 arrangement, were intended to increase the supply of locally refined products, improve security of supply, and support greater price stability at the pump,” he explained.

He further disclosed that, but for the restoration of TOR and other government-supported domestic production, fuel prices in the last two pricing windows could have sold between GHS22 and GHS32 per litre.

Mr Kombat said the revamp of TOR guaranteed Ghana and its Sahelian Neighbours Fuel Security and Availability.

He said TOR’s close working relationship with the National Petroleum Authority, Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST), and other Petroleum Service providers has increased Burkina Faso’s National Oil Company's petroleum product movement through Ghana from 15 per cent in 2024 to 40 per cent as at today.

On expansion and work ahead, Mr Kombat said engineers from Verga Engineering are working with TOR’s technical team to complete the tie-in and commission the F-61 this month.

This, he said, would allow the Crude Distillation Unit to move from its current throughput of about 28,000 bpd to its nameplate capacity of 45,000 bpd to 55,000 bpd.

In the medium term, they plan to install a new air cooler to raise capacity to 60,000 bpd and replace the 6,500 barrel-a-day catalytic reformers with a 10,000 barrel-per-day continuous catalytic reformer.

He noted that the new 120-ton boiler had been installed, while work on the RFCC turnaround and SCADA system continues.

Mr Kombat said on August 1, the President directed the Minister of Energy and Green Transition to work with the TOR Board and Management on a strategic roadmap to raise processing capacity to 100,000 barrels a day, with a further plan to increase it to 200,000 barrels per day as the end state.

He also announced plans to restructure TOR so that it could operate on sound commercial principles, without political interference.