Govt to assist TOR build 2nd refinery- Prez Mahama
The government is to assist the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) in its restructuring drive to meet its target of building a second refinery in the country, President John Dramani Mahama has said.
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The second refinery is projected to process about 100,000 barrels of crude per stream day (psd).
President Mahama made this known when he led the visiting Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr Keith Christopher Rowley, to tour the refinery in Tema on Tuesday.
He said the government had no intention to privatise the refinery, as the synergy between TOR and the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST) company had become a success story.
“A year ago, I couldn’t have afforded to step foot here without being lynched, but the coming to life of the refinery has accorded me the opportunity to bring a visitor here and I must applaud the workers’ union for their determination to ensure the success story of TOR,” President Mahama said amid cheers by the workers who thronged the company’s Junior Staff Cafeteria to listen to him.
The acting Managing Director (MD) of TOR, Mr Kwame Awuah-Darko, was however said to have travelled out of the country on official assignment.
Profit
TOR has begun showing signs of profitability after seven years in the woods.
The refinery posted a profit of $800,000 from its operations from February 16 to April 20, 2016, a development described by industry watchers as a sign of the possible revival of the company.
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The success story of TOR came to the fore during the May Day parade in Wa in the Upper West Region where a section of the workers expressed appreciation to President John Mahama for setting the company back on track to recovery.
Funds
Justifying why the government was reluctant in the past to release funds to TOR for its operations, President Mahama explained that, “we realised there was the need to fix management issues to ensure some level of success should the government decide to retool TOR.”
He said the view that state-owned enterprises could not run efficiently was not entirely true since some of them were doing well.
Collaboration
In his remarks, Dr Rowley said Trinidad and Tobago was working towards collaborating effecitvely with Ghana to develop it's oil and gas infrastructure.
The chairman of the Senior Staff Union of TOR, Mr Daniel Fugar, for his part, indicated that the story of TOR prior to the revamping was one of hopelessness.
“We thought we were losing our livelihoods, since the refinery tumbled and government’s posture at the time looked like it was not concerned.
“But in July last year, we began to see a reflection of hope when the new management took over and by January this year we realised the refinery had awoken from its slumber to a success story,” he stated.
The chairman pledged their commitment to sustain the gains made to ensure that the company remained a “cash cow” in the sector.
The Board Chairman of TOR, Dr John Frank Abu, took the two Presidents round.
The visiting Premier also toured the Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO).