The Government of Ghana is planning to sell the country’s premier refinery, Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), a Ranking Member of the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament, John Abdulai Jinapor has claimed.
According to him, information available to him indicates that the government intends to hand over the refinery to a private entity.
The 45,000 barrel per stream-day refinery constructed in 1963 has been idle for several months and many are of the view that the incessant hikes in fuel prices could have been averted if the refinery were functioning.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with energynewsafrica.com, Mr John Abdulai Jinapor, who is also the Member of Parliament for Yapei Kusawgu was asked whether he supports calls for the revamping of TOR and he responded in the affirmative.
“We think that TOR can be revamped. TOR can do almost half of our total consumption. Its processing capacity is about 45,000 per stream daily. If you upgrade it, you can even have 65,000 per stream day capacity.
“So as a matter of urgency, I hold the view that something should be done about TOR,” he advised.
In June 2022, this portal reported that a former Managing Director of the refinery, Mr Asante Berko, was returning to the refinery as an investor, this time around, leading a company by the name Decimal Capital Ltd.
On 23rd June 2022, the management of Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), in a statement, confirmed that it had selected Decimal Capital Ltd among other companies they were considering, claiming Decimal Capital Ltd’s proposal was better.
Even though TOR’s statement did not give details of the partnership, energynewsafrica.com’s sources indicate that Decimal Capital Ltd is going to be part of the new management.
According to the statement, the deal “is expected to boost the local supply of refined oil products and help stabilise the Ghana cedi, in the face of the ongoing international oil market crisis.
“A local Transactional Advisor has been contracted by TOR to lead the negotiations in formulating the lease agreement, which is expected to be completed over the next three to four weeks.
“The investment partner is expected to provide funding for a first phase, which will bring the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) of TOR back on stream to refine about 45,000 barrels per day in the next few months,” parts of the release stated.
However, Mr. Jinapor, who is aware of this yet-to-be-concluded deal, said the government had approached a Chinese company to take over the refinery for five years.
“Let me serve notice that we will not accept the situation where they try to sell TOR for the balance of payment purposes.
“We believe that TOR must be revamped but that must not be an avenue for somebody to use unorthodox, opaque and financially engineered ways for their private benefits. We will not accept that. We will ensure that the right thing is done,” he stressed.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com