TOR: Local refinery to commence operations at end-February 2023
Local oil refinery, Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), is set to commence full scale operations starting end-February 2023.
This is according to the Deputy Minister for Energy, Andrew Egyapa Mercer.
Speaking in an interview on Tuesday, December 20, the Deputy Minister stated that TOR is anticipated to start refining petroleum products next year as the government is finalising the requirements necessary to ensure the refinery’s smooth operation.
“The expectation of management, at the last meeting that we held at the office of his Excellency the President, was that by the end of February, they expect that they would start refining products at TOR,” he remarked.
Mr Egyapa Mercer made the comment in response to uncertainties regarding the status of the project, which the President claimed to be in development to guarantee reliable and regular sources of affordable petroleum products for the Ghanaian market.
Touching on the gold for oil programme, Mr Mercer revealed that the first shipment of refined petroleum products from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is expected to arrive in Ghana on January 10 and January 12, 2023.
He noted that joint venture government-to-government and government-to-business arrangements have been made with people who have expressed interest in the gold for oil barter.
“In fact, all the necessary agreements that needed to be executed have been executed. A lot more interest has been shown by other oil traders,” he quipped.
Despite his assurances, the Deputy Minister expressed surprise that people anticipated the programme to be implemented the day after it was announced.
He emphasised that such initiatives take time and that it is the government’s responsibility to adequately communicate its progress in order to reassure the public that the government was actively working.
