Edmond Kombat, the Managing Director of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), has revealed the refinery had accumulated losses of about GH¢10 billion and debts of approximately $570 million when the current management assumed office in 2025.
The TOR MD disclosed that the refinery was in a deteriorated financial and operational state at the time, adding that key processing units had been out of operation for several years.
He disclosed that the current management has since taken deliberate steps to revive the refinery and restore its operational capacity.
Speaking at a Government Accountability Series on Monday, October 26, Kombat stated, “When the President came back and asked that the refinery be brought back, when we went there to do the assessment, this was the TOR we met. By the time the current management took office in 2025, TOR’s position had deteriorated.
“The company had accumulated losses of about GHS10 billion and its debts had risen from $300 million in 2016 to about $570 million. The crude distillation unit had been out of operation since April 2021 while the Residue Fluids Catalytic Cracker had been shut down since 2019.
“These major units had not received the required maintenance, and TOR had been reduced largely to renting out storage space to petroleum service providers.”
Also, Edmond Kombat revealed that the recovery and restoration efforts have created more than 8,000 direct and indirect jobs for Ghanaians.
He disclosed that TOR currently has 415 young engineers in permanent positions, while 301 temporary workers have been engaged for work related to the refinery’s operations.
Edmond Kombat added that additionally, 67 workers have been engaged for maintenance works on the Residue Fluid Catalytic Cracker (RFCC), while 654 people are employed by 35 local contractors currently working at the refinery.
He revealed that employment opportunities demonstrate the wider economic benefits of restoring the refinery.
According to Kombat, restoration efforts had also generated indirect employment for 6,500 people, including tanker drivers and other workers in the downstream petroleum industry.
“The recovery has created a number of jobs, and sometimes we wonder where these people would have been if TOR had not come back,
In effect, direct employment for 1,557 young Ghanaian engineers having employed as a result of restoration and reset. We’ve also created jobs of about 6,500 indirectly for tanker drivers and other workers in the downstream.” he said.
Meanwhile, Edmond Kombat has disclosed that staff of the state-owned refinery have received a 30 per cent salary increase, marking the first adjustment in their salaries in 10 years.
“We also addressed more than 300 staff petitions. It increased our wage bill by 10 per cent, but we were able to shoulder it. This year, we also increased staff salaries by 30 per cent. The fact that for the last 10 years, there had not been staff salary increments. We had to negotiate with the unions and make sure that staff salaries went up by 30 per cent.”
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