- TOR Storage Volumes Rise 216.19% as Refinery Reports GH¢1.24 billion Profit
Tema Oil Refinery has reported a 216.19% increase in petroleum-product storage volumes between 2024 and 2026, strengthening its role in Ghana’s fuel-distribution chain as management works to rebuild operations, restore financial discipline and return the state-owned company to sustained commercial relevance.
Managing Director Edmond Kombat said volumes handled by the refinery rose from 426,954 metric tonnes in 2024 to 1,107,389 metric tonnes in 2025. That represented growth of 159.37% within one year. Storage volumes subsequently increased by another 21.91% to 1.35 million metric tonnes in 2026.
The figures, disclosed during the Government Accountability Series in Accra, suggest that TOR is extracting more value from infrastructure that had remained underused during years of operational and financial difficulty. Storage allows the refinery to earn income from receiving, holding and dispatching petroleum products even when its processing units are not operating continuously.
That makes the expansion commercially important, but it also requires careful interpretation. Higher storage volumes do not necessarily mean that TOR refined an equivalent quantity of crude oil. Some products may have been imported or supplied by third parties and stored at the facility before onward distribution.
The distinction matters because Ghana’s strategic objective extends beyond using TOR as a petroleum depot. The country also needs a reliable domestic refinery capable of processing crude, reducing dependence on imported finished products and retaining more value within the economy.
Storage income can provide cash flow while processing units are rehabilitated, but it should be considered a bridge towards dependable refining rather than a substitute for it. TOR’s recovery will ultimately be judged by plant utilisation, refining margins, product quality, maintenance discipline and the frequency of uninterrupted production runs.
Mr Kombat also disclosed that TOR recorded profit before tax of GH¢1.24 billion in 2025, its first return to profitability in a decade. The turnaround is notable because the refinery has historically been associated with debt, ageing equipment, operational interruptions and heavy dependence on state support.
Profitability provides management with greater room to meet obligations, undertake maintenance and negotiate commercial partnerships. But the quality and repeatability of the profit will be as important as its size.
Stakeholders will need to understand how much came from core storage and refining activities, whether any exceptional income contributed, and how cash generation compared with the accounting profit. A state enterprise cannot be considered fully recovered merely because it reports one profitable year; it must demonstrate that earnings can survive changes in oil prices, exchange rates and trading conditions.
Encouragingly, trade and other payables fell from GH¢7.10 billion to GH¢5.00 billion during 2025, a reduction of GH¢2.10 billion, or approximately 29.58%. This suggests that part of the operational improvement translated into balance-sheet repair rather than remaining only on the income statement.
Yet GH¢5.00 billion in outstanding payables remains substantial. It could restrict access to suppliers, increase financing costs and absorb future cash that might otherwise support equipment upgrades. TOR must therefore continue reducing liabilities without starving the refinery of the working capital required to operate.
The company’s financial-reporting progress is another important element of the recovery. Audited accounts covering 2019 to 2024 were completed by April 30, 2026, followed by the 2025 financial statements on May 30. Seven audited reports were subsequently submitted to the State Interests and Governance Authority.
TOR then held its 18th Annual General Meeting on June 30, addressing a nine-year reporting backlog covering 2017 to 2025. For a state-owned enterprise responsible for strategically important petroleum infrastructure, this was not a routine administrative achievement. Delayed accounts weaken parliamentary scrutiny, obscure liabilities and make it difficult to evaluate management performance.
Clearing the backlog restores a baseline for accountability. The next test is to ensure that audits and annual meetings occur on schedule rather than requiring another extraordinary exercise years later. Transparent accounts should also disclose related-party transactions, contingent liabilities, ageing receivables and the commercial basis of major storage and processing agreements.
The operational turnaround has also produced employment. According to Mr Kombat, TOR’s recovery created 1,657 direct roles, including permanent appointments for 415 young engineers. Another 301 temporary workers were engaged for maintenance on the Crude Distillation Unit, while 287 worked on the Residual Fluid Catalytic Cracking unit.
Thirty-five local contractors employed a further 654 workers at the refinery, while management estimates that the broader programme supported more than 6,500 indirect and temporary jobs.
The recruitment of young engineers could strengthen the technical workforce required to operate and maintain complex refinery equipment. However, employment growth must remain tied to productive activity. Expanding payroll costs ahead of dependable revenue would recreate the financial pressures the turnaround is intended to resolve.
TOR’s stronger storage performance has wider implications for Ghana’s petroleum market. Greater utilisation of domestic tanks can improve supply security, reduce congestion elsewhere in the distribution network and provide traders with additional flexibility when managing inventories.
It can also position TOR to play a stronger role in handling domestic crude and supporting regional petroleum trade. But the refinery must compete on service reliability, product-loss control, turnaround times and transparent pricing. Storage customers will remain only if TOR offers commercial value comparable with privately operated facilities.
The reported improvement is therefore a credible sign of recovery, not a declaration that the turnaround is complete. Storage volumes have risen, profitability has returned, payables have fallen and overdue financial statements have been cleared. Each represents progress against weaknesses that constrained the refinery for years.
What comes next will be harder. TOR must convert higher asset utilisation into recurring cash flow, sustain maintenance, strengthen procurement controls and demonstrate reliable crude processing. It must also resist political interference in hiring, contracting and product allocation.
The refinery’s renewed relevance will not be secured by one profitable year or one sharp increase in storage volumes. It will be secured when operational performance becomes routine, audited accounts arrive on time and taxpayers no longer fear that today’s recovery will become tomorrow’s bailout.
That is the standard against which Ghana must now measure the institution’s future.
