The Minister of State for the Ministry of Energy, Herbert Krapa, has given the strongest assurance that government would ensure that the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) conclude the process of securing a strategic partner within the next 90 days for it to commence full operations.
He indicated that the government was committed to ensuring that the state refinery was revamped to refine products to provide both the local and international markets and generate revenue for the state through the provision of “capital, technology and efficiency”.
He said while the process progressed, there was the need for immediate interventions to prepare the refinery, and these include operationalising some of the departments such as the laboratory and others.
Mr. Krapa, who gave the assurance when he paid a working visit to TOR as the Minister in charge of Energy said, “TOR has the fullest support of the government.”
Briefing the minister, Managing Director of TOR, Kofi Tagoe Mocumbi, assured that TOR had commenced the process to select a strategic partner to help revamp it and also expand its operations. He also gave the 90-day deadline.
Mr. Krapa indicated that the ministry and all the agencies would ‘police’ and support the process to ensure that it was realised with the best interest of the country as its prime objective.
“There is no gainsaying that TOR needs all our support, attention, and we all need to put our hands on deck, and it is for this reason that I chose TOR to be my first official visit to the institutions that work under the ministry,” he added.
He noted that TOR was a strategic asset that had significant potential in the downstream sector, adding that it was disturbing TOR had not operated for the purpose for which it was established for some time now.
“I don’t think it is late in the day, I have had conversations with the President. He doesn’t believe it is late in the day, and I am running on the back of his energy, and that is the reason I chose TOR as the first,” he said, adding that he was intimately versed with the issues at TOR.
Mr. Krapa was of the strong conviction that finding a strategic partner was the objective on the horizon, and expressed the hope that all the stakeholders, especially the board, management and the union would form a united front to save time and make progress in revamping TOR.
He said TOR required urgent attention, stressing that work that must be done in securing a strategic investor.
These works, he explained, include the terminal, pipelines, laboratories, storage, which should be made to work efficiently and fully to create revenue, which he described as low hanging fruits for the refinery.
Regarding the usage of TOR facilities for storing Sentuo Refinery products, Mr. Krapa said the two companies were not competitors because both the local and international markets were inexhaustible for them, stressing that he considered them working to complement each other.
He added that with TOR’s current position, it should not entertain any fear from Sentuo but rather embrace the idea of renting its facilities to Sentuo while it worked to revamp its operation fully.
Mr. Krapa together with his entourage visited Sentuo Refinery.
He was accompanied by the Chief Director of the Ministry, Wilhelmina Asamoah; the Deputy Chief Executive Officers of the National Petroleum Authority Ghana, Perry Curtis Kwabla Okudzeto; Linda Asante, and the various Directors and Heads of Department from the ministry.
Source:dailyguidenetwork.com