The Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL) has supported the call of petroleum downstream players to make the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) a major actor in the ‘Gold for Oil’ deal.
According to the Secretary General, GFL, Mr. Abraham Koomson, the TOR had completed work on the reconstruction of its crude oil furnace, which exploded in January 2017, forcing it to reduce production. The only refinery in Ghana had a capacity of 45,000 barrels per stream per day, he added, thus should be able to produce crude oil to avoid oil imports into the country. During an Industrial News Hub Dialogue, Mr. Koomson noted that:
“With proper investment and management, TOR has the capacity to transform the country’s energy sector…There is absolutely no reason to exclude TOR from the government’s Gold for Oil business.”
Abraham Koomson
The Secretary General, therefore appealed to the government to consider TOR’s proposal, which would save the country some hard currencies.
With its two plants – the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) and the Residual Fluid Catalytic Cracker (RFCC), Mr. Koomson explained that TOR had the capacity and investment to take full control of the refinery sector.
“We cannot set up a company with its core business being refinery and yet go out to buy either refined product or send crude from Ghana to other countries to refine and bring it back.
“TOR exists to refine crude oil, either acquired or for third parties to be able to serve the Ghanaian market, the sub-region, and beyond by marketing the finished products to the bulk distribution and oil marketing companies.”
Abraham Koomson
He further noted that the refinery was producing tons of crude oil and could supply other countries, which could help reduce the cost of petroleum products imported.
Mr. Koomson observed that lack of political will from successive governments had been the reason the refinery had been left to deteriorate over the years, thus said it was high time the country prioritized processing crude locally, adding that imports only contributed to high fuel prices, currency depreciation, and ultimately, economic hardship.
These comments from GFL follows an earlier call by TOR Workers Union to the government to be included in its God-for-Oil Programme.
TOR’s participation in the programme to provide petroleum products to Ghanaians at a cheaper cost
The Workers Union at TOR indicated that participation in the Gold-for-Oil Arrangement will enable the Refinery the opportunity to begin processing crude and petroleum products at a cheaper cost for Ghanaians.
This earlier call from the Union came during a meeting the Union members had to deliberate on the current state of the Refinery. The workers, at the meeting indicated that the plant had not been operational for some time due to the unavailability of crude, hence, stressed that it was crucial that the government included the Refinery in its deal to allow the Refinery license to recommence operations.
Not only will the Refinery benefit users of petroleum products, but will also give future workers and the refinery assurance of its operations for a long term.
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