Tema Oil Refinery to resume operations on Thursday
Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, Ghanadot
Accra, June 16, Ghanadot -
Credible information reaching
Ghanadot indicated that The Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) would
resume operations on Thursday June 18 after its shutdown for
maintenance, the Deputy Managing Director of the Refinery,
Dr Ali Abugri, has disclosed in Tema.
Although maintenance work carried out on the
Crude Distribution Unit early this year, the unit was shut
down due to lack of crude oil.
This
came to light when members of the Parliamentary Select
Committee on Mines and Energy paid a working visit to the
refinery in Tema.
According to Dr.
Abugri, maintenance work on the Residual Fluid Catalyser
Cracker was extended after the initial repairs when it was
realized that some critical parts also needed attention.
The Acting Managing Director of TOR, Dr Kwame
Ampofo indicated TOR was determined and committed to
changing public impression about its operations within 18
months.
“We are determined that
within 18 months the story about TOR would be different from
what we now hear in the news.”
He
appealed on the parliamentarians to monitor the refinery’s
operation and back management to enable TOR discharge its
operations as well as contributing to the socio-economic
development of the country.
The
management of TOR disclosed that some Oil Managing Companies
(OMCs) which purchase their products on credit from the
refinery do not pay at the right time, saying this affects
the smooth running of the company.
It was revealed at the tour that apart from the OMCs, some
national security services that buy fuel directly from the
refinery also owe the company with some owing for about two
years.
The Chairman of the
Committee, Mr Moses Asaga, indicated that the visit was to
equip members on the technicalities of the operations of the
refinery to enable them push through any bills on loans for
the company’s expansion and other activities.
Mr Asaga urged the Quality Control Division
of the refinery to ask for samples of the oil discovered in
the country from the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC)
for testing to know the specification of the Ghana’s
upcoming oil.
This would enable the
refinery to position itself better in preparing to refine
the country’s oil as well as be the preferred refinery in
West Africa, he added.
Ghanadot
