TOR needs guaranteed crude volumes to operate at full capacity – IES
The Institute for Energy Security (IES) says the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) will need a guaranteed and predictable supply of crude oil if it is to operate at full capacity and deliver the expected benefits of its turnaround maintenance.
The institute argues that restoring the refinery’s physical capacity is only part of the challenge, as sustained operations depend on securing enough crude feedstock.
TOR resumed refining operations in December 2025 following a three-month turnaround maintenance programme on its Crude Distillation Unit.
The refinery is currently reported to be operating at about 28,000 barrels per stream day, below its 45,000-barrel nameplate capacity, with further expansion towards 100,000 barrels per day planned.
IES says the gap between TOR’s current output and its potential capacity makes crude supply security particularly important.
“A restored refinery does not by itself guarantee restored refining output; it guarantees only the physical capacity to process crude, provided that crude is actually delivered,” the institute states in its policy paper.
According to the IES, Ghana’s current approach of making negotiated or ad hoc crude allocations does not provide the level of certainty required for long-term refinery planning.
The institute cited a reported one-million-barrel allocation of Jubilee crude to TOR and argued that such allocations should be formalised into a recurring Domestic Market Obligation (DMO) system.
Under Ghana’s existing petroleum regulations, the DMO framework provides for annual and monthly calculations of domestic crude requirements, as well as mechanisms for notifying petroleum contractors and determining the price of crude supplied to the domestic market.
IES says the volume allocated to TOR must be tied to its actual throughput requirements rather than being a symbolic quantity.
It warns that as TOR’s capacity rises from its current operating level towards 45,000 barrels per day and eventually 100,000 barrels per day, the DMO allocation must be recalculated accordingly.
The institute points to Nigeria’s experience as an example of what could happen when refinery capacity expands without a sufficiently reliable domestic crude supply.
It says the Dangote refinery has had to source crude from international markets when domestic allocations were inadequate, creating additional exposure to dollar-denominated crude costs.
For Ghana, IES believes a predictable crude supply could help TOR reduce dependence on imported feedstock and strengthen the country’s domestic refining capacity.
It is, therefore, recommending that the sector minister issue the 90-day notices required under Regulation 32 and place domestic crude supply on a recurring calendar-year footing.
IES also wants the annual domestic supply requirement to be published and broken down by month, giving both crude producers and refineries a clearer basis for operational planning.
The institute says ensuring adequate crude volumes will be critical if Ghana is to translate TOR’s restored refining capacity into greater fuel security and reduced exposure to imported petroleum products.