TOR's Debt Stock Stands at $517m - Acting Managing Director
Accra, Ghana - 23 June, 2025 - The Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), Ghana's primary petroleum processing facility, is grappling with a staggering debt of $517 million, accumulated from a combination of operational liabilities, unpaid crude oil supplies and government accounting adjustments according to Acting Managing Director, Edmund Kombat.
Speaking to journalists after an appearance before Parliament’s Energy Committee, Kombat noted that the debt has been triggered by trade debts, legacy debts and grants from the Ministry of Finance reclassified as debt under the International Monetary Fund agreement.
This financial burden has significantly impacted TOR's operations, with the refinery shutting down for years due to lack of crude. However, the management is working to restructure the debt and engage with stakeholders to clear outstanding obligations.
Kombat assured that TOR is committed to stopping the debt accumulation and preventing future occurrences.
“We are doing that verification, and as I mentioned, once we do that verification and authentication of what we have been able to bring down, that will be communicated publicly,'' he stated.
“So what occasioned it trade debts, sometimes third parties. And then there were also debts that are legacy debts where crude was supplied, it was not paid. There were times that the Ministry of Finance in the past had given some funds to TOR. Some of it for example was grant and then when they entered into the IMF, the IMF asked them to reclassify it as debt. So those things have accumulated to that amount of money. And I think that the last time TOR traded, some of the trade were not hedged and so there was a lot of exposure which led to a lot of debt ballooning but we are here to make sure that that is stopped and it is not repeated again.”
Meanwhile, TOR is set to resume full operations by October 2025 and has started revamping its key infrastructure, including the Crude Distillation Unit and Residue Fluid Catalytic Cracker, in a bid to decrease Ghana's reliance on imported petroleum products.
TOR's financial struggles are not new, with the refinery recording average annual losses of GH¢793 million since 2019. The company's equity plummeted by 135% to GH¢5.7 billion in 2023, casting doubt on its financial sustainability. Experts have attributed the decline to poor financial and operational management, as well as structural inefficiencies.
Source: Lead News Online
