The Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) has reduced its debt burden from $650 million to about $300 million under a restructuring programme supported by the Energy Sector Levies Act (ESLA), Mr Edmond Kombat, Managing Director (MD) of TOR, has announced.
Mr Kombat said it has also settled its exposures to four banks, and the debt reduction formed part of broader efforts to restore the financial viability of the state-owned refinery.
Delivering a speech on the refinery’s turnaround during the Government Accountability Series Press Conference at the Presidency in Accra recounted that when the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government handed over to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration in January 2017, the TOR was operational.
The refinery has processed about five million barrels of crude in 2016, with about two million barrels remaining in storage at the time of the handover.
Mr Kombat noted that key infrastructure and equipment had been secured, including the offshore mooring facility, into which approximately $90 million in capital was injected in March 2017, as well as a new furnace and boiler to support continued operations.
The Managing Director indicated that the restructuring and infrastructure investments were aimed at positioning TOR to operate more efficiently and sustainably, reducing its reliance on state support while strengthening its contribution to Ghana’s downstream petroleum sector.
He said the Refinery had also shown that Ghana could refine its own crude, stating that in December 2016, TOR received its first delivery of Ghanaian indigenous crude from the TEN field for domestic refining aboard MT Bodeira.
He noted that by the time the current Management took office in 2025, TOR’s position had deteriorated.
“The Company had accumulated losses of about GH¢10 billion, and its debt had risen from $300 million in 2016 to about US$517 million,” Mr Kombat said.
He noted that the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) had been out of operation since April 2021; while the Residue Fluid Catalytic Cracking (RFCC) Unit had been shut down since 2019.
He said these major units had not received the required maintenance, and TOR had been reduced largely to renting out storage space to petroleum service providers, instead of carrying out its core mandate.
Mr Kombat reiterated that they met a Refinery that was not refining and a tank farm used only for limited storage.
He said much of the infrastructure was run down or obsolete, and 18 out of the refinery’s 59 storage tanks were out of service and that some of the storage tanks had been out of service since 2004.
Mr Kombat said TOR had not filed audited financial statements for six consecutive years, 2019 to 2024; saying, “for six years, the Refinery had no Audited Accounts”.
He said the Company owed GH¢200 million to the Ghana Revenue Authority and GH¢20 million to the SSNIT, in addition to amounts owed to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Ghana Water Company as well as GH¢190 million in outstanding obligations to staff provident fund, retirees and resignees.
The MD said TOR was several years delinquent in statutory payments.
He said staff morale was low, staff were leaving, the workforce was divided, and more than 300 petitions over delayed promotions, some dating back to 10 years were awaiting review.
Mr Kombat said the Refinery also owed other commercial entities and state-owned companies including Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and the Volta River Authority (VRA).
“The refinery was on the verge of being sold or leased for $21m. By the end of 2024, TOR had negative equity of GH¢7.6billion,” the MD said.
Mr Kombat noted that between 2019 to 2024, TOR sold third party products belonging to three petroleum services providers, valued at millions of dollars to pay staff salaries without the knowledge of the product owners.
Touching on what had changed since May 2025, Mr Kombat said since May 2025, under President John Dramani Mahama’s Reset Agenda, Management of TOR had taken steps to rebuild the company from within, beginning with people and stronger cash controls.
He said they reviewed the outstanding promotion petitions and addressed eligible cases and that they also extended the operating hours at the refinery’s loading gantry, improved cash controls and accountability in product handling, worked to restore confidence and won back private petroleum companies and regional partners to store and lift products at TOR.
Mr Kombat said these measures formed part of Project Restore TOR, a broader recovery programme to return the refinery into operations, improve its financial position and prepare it for long-term sustainability.
He reiterated that Management made the rehabilitation and restart of the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) its immediate operational priority.
He said a Turnaround Maintenance Committee was constituted, and the work was funded solely from TOR’s IGF and carried out by TOR’s engineers and technicians.
This, he said, was necessary to address years of deferred maintenance and prepare the plant for safe and reliable operations.
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