Mahama sets out plan to raise Tema Oil Refinery capacity to 100,000 barrels a day

President John Dramani Mahama has instructed Ghana’s Energy and Green Transition Minister, John Abdulai Jinapor, and the board and management of Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) to produce a strategic roadmap for increasing the facility’s refining capacity to 100,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

The directive was announced on Saturday, 1 August, at the commissioning of TOR’s refurbished facilities in the Tema Industrial Enclave.

The event marked the return of the state-owned refinery to a more prominent role in Ghana’s energy and industrial plans. It also coincided with TOR processing its one millionth barrel of locally produced Jubilee Field Medium Sweet Crude into finished petroleum products.

Mr Mahama said the government’s ambitions extended beyond simply restoring the refinery’s operations. He called for TOR to become more efficient, commercially competitive and financially sustainable, with the facility placed at the centre of a wider strategy to develop an integrated petroleum industry.

The President said the refurbishment represented the start of a much broader effort to strengthen Ghana’s industrial base and support both the national economy and regional trade.

Among the work completed at TOR was the rehabilitation of the Crude Distillation Unit and the restoration of the Residual Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit. A new F-61 crude heater has also been installed, while Boiler No. 8 has returned to service.

Mr Mahama said those developments demonstrated renewed confidence in Ghana’s industrial capacity. He also revealed that the government planned institutional reforms to protect TOR from political interference and provide greater long-term stability for its operations.

The government intends to upgrade the refinery’s Single Buoy Mooring (SBM) infrastructure as part of efforts to improve the offloading of crude oil and petroleum products. The ambition is to develop Ghana into West Africa’s leading hub for petroleum refining, storage and logistics.

TOR is also expected to support the government’s 24-Hour Economy policy and its Accelerated Export Development Programme. The refinery’s role will include supplying manufacturing and industrial production, supporting exports and helping create jobs under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

The President welcomed confirmation from TOR Managing Director Edmond Kombat that the refinery was already operating around the clock.

He said the government would soon introduce incentives for companies that operated on a 24-hour basis. The measures are expected to include tax relief, favourable energy tariffs and duty-free importation of capital equipment needed to expand industrial plants.

The planned increase in TOR’s capacity forms part of a wider government strategy to improve Ghana’s energy security and reduce the country’s dependence on imported petroleum products.

It is also intended to strengthen Ghana’s position as a competitive centre for petroleum processing and logistics in the sub-region.

The development of TOR is therefore being presented not only as a refinery restoration project, but as a key component of Ghana’s industrialisation programme. The proposed roadmap will determine how the facility can move from its refurbished state towards processing 100,000 barrels of crude oil each day.