The Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) has received more than five million barrels of crude oil following a period in which it recorded no crude receipts in 2024, Managing Director Edmond Kombat has disclosed.
He said the renewed supply of crude reflected growing confidence among suppliers and business partners following efforts to restore the refinery’s operations.
Speaking at the Government Accountability Series at Jubilee House on Monday, October 26, 2026, Mr Kombat said TOR had received several crude cargoes since the recovery programme began, including shipments of Ghanaian indigenous crude.
“TOR has maintained a steady supply of crude oil for refinery operations, reflecting the renewed confidence among suppliers and business partners, who are once again willing to do business with the refinery,” he said.
The Managing Director listed Bonga, Baleine and Bonnie Light among the crude grades received since May 2026, followed by Ghana’s Jubilee Medium Sweet crude delivered aboard the MT Apache on July 15, 2026.
He said TOR paid for the Jubilee cargo in full, describing it as the refinery’s first Jubilee crude shipment in a decade.
On September 25, 2026, the refinery received a further 950,000-barrel shipment of Sankofa crude from the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).
The crude deliveries followed the restart of refining operations on December 19, 2025, after the completion of turnaround maintenance on the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU).
Mr Kombat said the restoration of crude supplies had been central to management’s efforts to return TOR to its core mandate of processing crude oil into petroleum products for the domestic market.
He explained that the refinery had been largely inactive when the current management took office in May 2025, with the CDU out of operation since April 2021 and the Residue Fluid Catalytic Cracking (RFCC) Unit shut down since 2019.
Management subsequently prioritised the rehabilitation of the CDU, with turnaround maintenance conducted between August 1 and October 30, 2025.
Following inspections by the National Petroleum Authority, the refinery received clearance to resume refining operations.
The refurbished CDU was commissioned by President John Dramani Mahama on August 1, 2026.
Mr Kombat said the crude deliveries and renewed commercial relationships demonstrated the importance of collaboration among state institutions and private-sector partners in restoring TOR.
He said management would continue working to ensure a steady supply of crude, improve operational efficiency and increase processing capacity.