- President Orders Roadmap to Expand TOR Refining Capacity to 100,000 Barrels Daily
President John Dramani Mahama has directed the Ministry of Energy and Green Transition together with the board and management of the Tema Oil Refinery to develop a strategic roadmap for expanding the state-owned refinery’s capacity to 100,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
The directive marks a shift in government policy from merely restoring TOR’s operations towards repositioning the refinery as a larger, commercially sustainable processing hub capable of supporting Ghana’s industrialisation, energy-security and export ambitions.
President Mahama announced the plan during the commissioning of the refurbished refinery at the Tema Industrial Enclave on August 1, after TOR successfully processed one million barrels of locally produced Jubilee Field Medium Sweet Crude into finished petroleum products.
The milestone strengthens the connection between Ghana’s upstream petroleum industry and its domestic downstream market, allowing locally produced crude to be processed at home rather than relying predominantly on imported refined products.
Mahama said government’s objective was not simply to keep TOR operating, but to turn it into a more efficient, competitive and commercially viable refinery.
That ambition will require significantly more than restoring damaged or idle equipment.
TOR has undergone rehabilitation of its Crude Distillation Unit, restoration of the Residual Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit, installation of a new F-61 crude heater and the return of Boiler No. 8 to service. The President described those investments as evidence of renewed confidence in Ghana’s industrial capacity.
Expanding capacity to 100,000 barrels a day would represent a much more substantial industrial proposition.
At that scale, TOR could potentially play a larger role in meeting domestic demand while supporting exports into neighbouring West African markets. The economics, however, will depend on whether the refinery can secure reliable crude supplies, adequate working capital and competitive operating costs.
The government is also proposing institutional reforms aimed at insulating TOR from political interference, an issue that has historically complicated the management of several state-owned enterprises.
That governance dimension could prove as important as the engineering work.
A refinery can possess technically functioning units while still struggle commercially if crude procurement, financing, pricing, maintenance and management decisions are weakened by political considerations or poor financial discipline.
Mahama has also announced plans to upgrade TOR’s Single Buoy Mooring infrastructure to improve the offloading of crude oil and petroleum products. The broader objective is to position Ghana as a regional petroleum refining, storage and logistics hub.
TOR’s renewed ambitions are emerging alongside significant private-sector refining expansion.
Sentuo Oil Refinery, also located in Tema, is pursuing its own expansion from 40,000 barrels per day to 100,000 barrels per day under its second phase.
If both projects reach their intended capacities, Ghana could theoretically possess about 200,000 barrels per day of refining capacity across the two facilities, materially altering the structure of the country’s downstream petroleum sector.
Capacity, however, is not the same as actual throughput.
The test will be whether both refineries can operate consistently at commercially viable utilisation rates and whether Ghana can secure sufficient crude feedstock on competitive terms.
TOR itself received one million barrels of crude on May 27 and resumed refining operations on June 3, according to Energy Minister John Abdulai Jinapor.
Mahama also welcomed confirmation from TOR Managing Director Edmond Kombat that the refinery is already operating on a 24-hour basis.
That links the refinery directly to the government’s wider 24-Hour Economy programme.
The President said businesses operating around the clock would benefit from incentives including tax relief, favourable energy tariffs and duty-free importation of capital equipment required for expansion and new installations.
For Ghana, the economic case for greater refining capacity is clear.
The country produces crude oil yet spends substantial foreign exchange importing petrol, diesel and other refined petroleum products. Increasing domestic processing could reduce part of that import dependence, create jobs, deepen local value addition and strengthen supply resilience during disruptions in international petroleum markets.
But the financial case must also hold.
TOR’s long-term revival will depend on whether its expansion can generate adequate margins without creating new liabilities for the state.
The proposed 100,000-barrel target therefore represents more than an engineering expansion. It is a test of whether Ghana can turn a historically troubled strategic asset into a commercially disciplined refinery capable of competing with both domestic private refiners and larger international suppliers.
The one-million-barrel Jubilee crude processing milestone shows that TOR is operating again. The more difficult phase now begins: proving that the refinery can scale, remain financially sustainable and become a dependable part of Ghana’s petroleum economy.
