Herbert Krapa, Minister of State at the Ministry of Energy, has disclosed that plans are well advanced for the collapsed Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) to resume its operations within the next three months.
He made this known in a Facebook post after paying a working visit to TOR and Sentuo Oil Refinery on Tuesday, 23 July 2024. According to the minister, a strategic partner is being sought for the revival of TOR to ensure it resumes full operation and produces at maximum capacity. Krapa added that the timeframe for the resumption was agreed upon by TOR management.
“Earlier today, I paid working visits to Tema Oil Refinery and Sentuo Oil Refinery. I am happy to announce that together with the management of TOR, we agreed on a three-month timeline for the resumption of the plant.
“I also announced the government’s plan to immediately revive TOR’s Testing Laboratory for revenue generation. I charged both TOR and Sentuo to see each other as partners and collaborate for the growth of both refineries,” Krapa said.
He added: “There is no gain in saying TOR needs all our support and attention, and we all need to put our hands on deck. It is for these reasons that I chose TOR to be my first official visit to the institutions that work under the ministry. I don’t think it’s late in the day.”
TOR, now led by Managing Director Kofi Tagoe Mocumbi, shut down operations several years ago due to a lack of crude oil, which serves as the raw material for the refinery. The facility had the capacity to refine about 45,000 barrels of crude oil daily before its unfortunate shutdown.
Stakeholders in the oil value chain have made several calls for the revitalisation of TOR, blaming its collapse partly for the high cost of fuel in the country as imported fuel has become the main solution.
pulse.com.gh
