'TOR is still in coma' - IES petitions Akufo-Addo to save refinery from collapse

Energy Minister sits clueless, IES on TOR

TOR sits idle, rusting away, IES

TOR saddled with over GH¢400 million debt

The Institute for Energy Security (IES) has called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to as a matter of urgency rescue the Tema Oil Refinery from collapse.

According to the institute, the refinery is lying idle while the country currently battles with increasing fuel prices due to imports.

In a statement, the IES noted that the refinery which is currently saddled with over GH¢400 million in debt is still in coma and needs the urgent attention of the President.

“While the price of a gallon of Diesel draws closer to Gh¢60, the Institute for Energy Security (IES) wishes to put the President H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufu-Addo on notice that “the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) is still in coma, requiring his urgent intervention to save the State facility which is saddled with over Gh¢400 million debt, from total collapse”.

IES also wants a comprehensive business strategy to be drawn to ensure that the refinery is operationally and financially viable.

“After close to 6 years of poor management of this vital state institution, the refinery sits idle and hopeless; losing out on the prospects of the Russian-Ukraine conflict, plus the potential of generating that synergy between the upstream and the downstream sectors of the Ghanaian petroleum industry.”

The energy think tank further noted that this is a time when the country can make the most out of its petroleum resources due to current happenings on the international market.

“At a time, this nation needs it most, the refinery has ceased to play any meaningful role in managing fuel price and supply risks, while pockets of fuel shortages are recorded with the price of fuel almost quadrupling in the past 6 and half years, stoking inflationary pressures on the entire economy, as Ghanaians will attest.”