<<Print>>

The Tema Oil Refinery on Thursday, October, 27, received the first consignment of the 997,000 barrels of crude oil imported from Sahara oil in Nigeria. The MV Wilhelmina Vessel begun discharging the crude oil at 10:48hrs GMT to the excitement and relief of staff of the refinery. This follows TOR�s ability to secure an 80 million dollar credit facility from Ecobank Ghana Limited, on Wednesday, October 27 to discharge the consignment ferried into the country on Sunday. All things being equal; it should take three days for the vessel to discharge the entire 997,000 barrels to the Refinery. The arrival of the Ninety Seven metric tonnes of crude oil on Sunday, October 25, resulted from a temporary arrangement the Ghanaian government had put in place to ensure regular supply of crude oil ahead of the government-to-government deal between Ghana and Nigeria. The arrival of the consignment brought a sigh of relief to senior government officials connected to the oil import following earlier threats of industrial action by TOR staff, backed by the Tema District Council of Labour (TDCL). The unions had issued an ultimatum at a meeting held between the two bodies on Friday, October 23; a day after the President had met and interacted with workers of TOR. The Government of Ghana and the management of the Tema Oil Refinery, after several fruitless efforts succeeded in securing an $80m credit facility from Ecobank, on Wednesday to help TOR take delivery of the crude oil.