Ghana: Tema Oil Refinery Processes 28,000 Barrels Of Oil Per Stream Day After Major Rehabilitation Work

After more than six years of lying idle, Ghana’s premier refinery, Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) Limited, has resumed crude oil processing following the completion of major rehabilitation works a few weeks ago.

The refinery restarted crude oil refining at the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) about four days ago, and insiders tell this portal that TOR is currently processing about 28,000 barrels of crude oil per stream day.

This development comes as good news to Ghanaian petroleum consumers and industry stakeholders who had grown increasingly concerned about the refinery’s deteriorating state over the years.

This portal understands that with the CDU now back in production mode, management plans to turn its attention to commissioning the new furnace (F-61) in order to ramp up output to about 45,000 barrels per stream day and eventually 55,000 barrels per stream day.

When this portal visited the refinery on Sunday, December 21, 2025, production activities were underway. Two stacks located near the CDU were emitting smoke, while the utility station was also operational—clear indications that refining operations had resumed.

During the previous administration, there were attempts to secure a private partner to revamp the refinery. However, the process was widely criticised for a lack of transparency, triggering agitation from unions and formal petitions to the anti-graft body, the Office of the Special Prosecutor, to investigate the matter.

Some industry analysts believe the refinery was saved from falling into private hands by the change in government following the December 7, 2024 general elections.

Speaking at a recent capacity-building programme organised by Energy News Africa Ltd in collaboration with the Tema Regional Ghana Journalists Association, TOR’s Managing Director, Mr. Edmond Kombat Esq., painted a gloomy picture of the refinery’s mismanagement under previous leadership, which resulted in significant indebtedness.

With President John Dramani Mahama’s “reset agenda” as a guiding framework, Mr. Kombat explained that management began with a comprehensive “Fish Bone Analysis” (a management framework) of TOR, breaking down every aspect of its operations to determine whether the refinery could realistically be salvaged and how its full potential could be unlocked.

This diagnostic exercise was followed by stakeholder mapping to identify key allies and obstacles, ensuring the President’s vision of saving jobs and reviving the plant could be effectively implemented.

One of the most pressing challenges uncovered, he noted, was deep-seated staff bitterness after years without promotion—a situation that threatened productivity and unity. Management therefore invited workers to submit petitions for long-overdue promotions.

A committee chaired by Mr. Kombat vetted more than 300 cases, with over 250 employees found deserving and subsequently promoted—an action that quickly restored calm and boosted morale.

“Immediately, it brought a lot of calm among the staff,” he said, describing the impact of the exercise.

To build a shared revival strategy, Mr. Kombat held engagements across TOR’s 42 departments, listening to staff concerns and ideas on how to “bring this refinery back,” before consolidating their inputs into a workable roadmap.

With government finances constrained under the IMF programme, TOR relied on internally generated funds and strict cash management, pursuing long-outstanding receivables and negotiating payment plans with debtors to sustain operations while critical maintenance was undertaken.

He highlighted that a major revenue boost has come from extending loading hours—effectively introducing a partial 24-hour economy for terminal operations with the support of regulators and security agencies. Instead of closing at 5:00 p.m., loading activities often continue until 11:00 p.m. or midnight, significantly increasing cash inflows.

Mr. Kombat also noted that management implemented strict accountability in product handling, ensuring that companies bringing in, for example, 10,000 litres received exactly the same volume in return. This reform helped rebuild trust and turned satisfied clients into ambassadors for TOR.

These reforms, he said, have already yielded visible results. In recent months, TOR’s storage tanks have remained full, at times leaving no space for additional products—a striking turnaround from years of underutilisation.

He added that disciplined management and the prudent use of internally generated funds enabled the refinery to complete a full maintenance programme on its CDU without contracting new loans, despite years of unaudited accounts that had made external financing nearly impossible.

The revival has also had a significant employment impact. TOR engaged hundreds of technicians during the maintenance phase, later absorbing many into permanent roles. Additional security and technical staff have also been recruited to fill vacancies created by departing engineers.

The refinery now supports roughly 1,000 workers, as well as their dependants who benefit from free medical care—safeguarding livelihoods that would have been lost had the plant collapsed.

Although Mr. Kombat acknowledges that “the refinery has not yet been fully salvaged,” test runs and system flushing have been completed. Management expects a flare-up and stabilisation phase ahead of an official commissioning ceremony to mark TOR’s full return to service.

He stressed that with plans to connect a new furnace and ramp up capacity toward 45,000 barrels per day, TOR’s revival is increasingly seen as a testament to how disciplined management, strong union cooperation, and strategic planning can rescue a once-dying refinery and set it on a path toward financial and operational renewal.