Director of Research, Pricing and Monitoring at the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), Mr. Sampson Addai has expressed sadness over how one of the best oil refineries in West Africa, Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), has been turned into an oil storage point.
According to him, the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), which has the capability and capacity to process the dirtiest of crude, has been left a white elephant.
He noted that government should step in with investment to make the company financially viable and purchase crude oil supplies.
Speaking in an interview on Plan B FM ‘Ebaanosen’ with Bohyeba Afriyie, Mr. Addai said, the refinery has for long been loss-making and riddled with debt, with experts calling for capital injection to make it efficient and profitable.
“How and why do we have to drill crude in Ghana and refine it abroad? I am pleading with gov’t to focus on TOR and start refining our product here. If we do that, fuel will be a thing of the past.
The Bulk Distribution Companies (BDC) will also end up paying less as they will not have to pay for any import and shipping related costs and end up paying only for the tanker delivering the product to them from TOR, reducing the cost of fuel in the long run” he intimated.
He added that, he disagree with calls by some industry players to hand the refinery to a private investor to manage it.
“I disagree with private takeover of TOR, we need to look at the monies we get from the petroleum revenue Act which is used to fund the Free SHS. We can also use part of that revenue to revamp TOR, and within three years, we will reap the benefits,” he said.
Mr. Addai also said the country needs storage tanks to store crude oil so we do not struggle in times of emergency. He stated that the country’s strategic storage reserve currently would not even last for three months.
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