TOR will not be scrapped-MD

The Managing Director of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), Isaac Osei, has explained that, the past challenges of TOR must not in any way be use to judge its current state and the future of the refinery.

Mr. Osei said “TOR’s major problems were the production losses it recorded in the past and the frequent break down of the plants, but these have been resolved”.

Mr. Osei was addressing a number of Ghanaians and potential investors in Houston Texas, USA.

Some investors have expressed worry over a news item in which the Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko was reported to have said that TOR would be turned into a tank farm after new refineries had been constructed in Ghana.

Explaining the issues to the investors at the ongoing Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) 2018 in Houston Texas, USA, the TOR MD said, “the matter has been resolved after the Refinery embarked on its recent shut down maintenance which it had missed in the last eight years. We recently completed our 8-year overdue shut down maintenance and this has reduced production losses from 7% in the past to just 1.2%”.

Mr. Osei added that “we have started with pre-start up processes of the RFCC which will be in production by next week, and I would like to add that, the Refinery is in much better placed than it used to be in the past”.

“I plan to engage the Energy Minister more on this because, surely, the Minister’s argument that the plants at TOR were constructed in 1963 and so must be scrapped is hard to accept since many refineries which were built many years before the TOR hydro skimming plant are still working effectively in other countries”, he explained.

The MD noted that “I am of the view that, the two plants at TOR could still be operated effectively and efficiently for many years to come, particularly when the RFCC, the cash cow was constructed only in 2004”.

 Mr. Osei emphasized that, since TOR generates its own income, the TOR Board and management owe it a duty to make the plant viable and sustain about one thousand hard working engineers, technicians and other professionals working at the refinery. 

Mr. Osei further revealed that the company is in talks with its technical partners with a view to reducing the sulfur content of its products within the time frame set by the African Refiners Association and that of the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA).

He insisted that there exists a synergy between TOR’s plan to construct a new 100,000 BPSD refinery and the existing 45000 BPSD. 

Mr. Osei said scrapping of TOR does not form part of the strategic corporate plan of TOR.

 

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