The Board Chairman of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), Tongraan Kugbilsong Nanlebegtang, has announced that the TOR Board of Directors has no plans of converting the refinery into a tank farm contrary to assertions made by the Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko in the United States of America.
During a meeting at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) held in Houston, Texas, Mr Agyarko announced that plans were underway to convert the distressed Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) into a tank farm.
The Minister added that they would establish a refinery hub in Takoradi in the Western Region to serve Ghana and the sub-region.
Currently, TOR production capacity hovers around 20,000 metric tons, which is grossly inadequate to cater for Ghana’s current requirement of around 160,000 metric tons a day.
TOR’s facilities are serving as storage for fuel importers, which falls in line with the minister’s suggestion.
But the Board Chairman of TOR, who is the Paramount Chief of the Talensi Traditional Area in the Upper East Region, in a press statement, gave assurance that the refinery is capable of processing crude oil for the Ghanaian market and sub-region contrary to the assertions by Mr Boakye Agyarko.
According to the Board Chairman, TOR would soon run a full refinery, as soon as all the maintenance works are completed.
He noted that an amount of $50 million has so far been spent by the company to replace damaged equipment, adding that a new crude heater was procured to replace an old one that got damaged prior to the commencement of the tenure of the new board.
“Having undertaken general shutdown maintenance, particularly the processing plants, we hope to be on stream soon. The Power House will receive a new 12-ton capacity boiler to augment Steam and Power generation latest by the 3rd quarter of this year. The exploded furnace is also under construction and will be shipped from overseas to Ghana by early January, 2019. This will put the plant on its maximum operating capacity upon installation,” the Board Chairman explained.
According to the Board Chairman, the board and management have drawn up a strategic plan to build a new refinery with a capacity of 100 to 120,000 BSPD (Barrel per Stream Day) within its catchment area.
According to him, the Tema Oil Refinery would use the available land at the refinery to undertake the project soon.
“The Board is focused on its mandate and would restore the Tema Oil Refinery and expand it to operate as a profitable premier refinery in Ghana and beyond,” he added.
<<Print>>