Tema Oil Refinery will be revived - Energy Minister assures
The Minister of State at the Ministry of Energy, Herbert Krapa, has given an assurance that the government will guide and support the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) to conclude the process of securing a strategic partner within the next 90 days.
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He indicated that while the process progressed, there was the need for immediate interventions to prepare the refinery and these included operationalising some of the departments such as the laboratory.
He emphasised that the government’s prime objective had been the determination to provide TOR with “capital, technology and efficiency”.
Mr Krapa made this known during a working visit to the TOR, his first to a sector agency since he assumed office.
Briefing
During the briefing, the Managing Director of TOR, Kofi Tagoe Mocumbi, assured the minister that TOR had commenced the process of selecting a strategic partner to help revamp it and also expand its operations. He also gave the 90-day deadline.
He was accompanied by the Chief Director of the Ministry, Wilhelmina Asamoah, the Deputy Chief Executive Officers of the National Petroleum Authority, Ghana, Perry Curtis Kwabla Okudzeto and Linda Asante, and the various Directors and Heads of Department from the Ministry.
Mr Krapa who held meetings with management and staff emphasised the government's commitment towards ensuring the viability of TOR.
Capacity
The TOR has a refinery capacity of 45,000 barrels per stream day (bpsd) and remains a major refinery of crude oil in Ghana. However, presently, the facility serves as a depot and storage facility for oil marketing companies which import finished petroleum products into the country.
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Addressing journalists after the tour, Mr Krapa gave the assurance that the government would work with management to find a strategic investor to revive the company.
“I am looking forward to engaging management on what their plans are. I am quite intimately familiar with the issues that TOR has.
I believe that finding a strategic partner is really the objective on the horizon but while we wait for that, there should be some immediate interventions to prepare us towards that,” he said.
Mr Krapa was of the strong conviction that finding a strategic partner was the objective on the horizon and expressed the hope that all the stakeholders, especially the board, management and the union would form a united front to save time and make progress in revamping TOR.
Urgent attention
The minister further stated that TOR required urgent attention and that securing a strategic investor should be an event but prior to that the work that must be done should be executed to culminate in the smooth entry of the investor.
These works, he explained, included the terminal, pipelines, laboratories, storage, which should be made to work efficiently and fully to create revenue which he described as low-hanging fruits for the refinery.
Giant step
The Managing Director of TOR, Kofi Tagoe Mocumbi, told the minister that management had taken a giant step in the revival process of the facility and was optimistic that the company would start full operation with its Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) within three months.
Support
Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority, Perry Okudzeto, said as a regulator, they were ready to provide the necessary support, guidance and regulations to make sure TOR got back on its feet to fast-track the transformation of the vital state asset.
Writer's email: benjamin.glover@graphic.com.gh