TOR ANNOUNCES AN EXPANSION, A NEW PETROCHEMICAL PLANT AND A HISTORIC JUBILEE CRUDE SUPPLY

Ghana's downstream sector is having a defining year, and the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) sits at the centre of it. Between a fresh expansion announcement from the top, a long-promised petrochemical plant, and the country's first sustained local crude supply deal, TOR is signalling an ambition it hasn't carried in decades. 

Sectional View-  Tema Oil Refinery

The headline move came in January 2026, when TOR's Chief Executive, Edmond Kombat, disclosed that the refinery would begin work on an entirely new processing unit. According to Argus Media, Ghana's state-owned Tema Oil Refinery plans to begin a new 100,000 barrel-a-day refinery and petrochemical plant initiative this year, according to Kombat — though no details were provided at the time on the scope or timeframe of the project, and TOR did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The new-build sits on top of TOR's existing recovery. Argus reported that TOR's existing 45,000 barrel-a-day refinery resumed operations in December after nearly five years offline, running at 28,000 barrels a day while it awaited completion of a new direct-fired crude heater — part of a rehabilitation project contracted to Italy's Vergaengineering, which TOR said was 95 percent complete. The same report noted TOR's medium-term target of raising CDU capacity to 60,000 barrels a day, alongside plans to swap its 6,500 barrel-a-day catalytic reformer for a 10,000 barrel-a-day continuous catalytic reformer, with a source in the country saying TOR is seeking investors for the plans.

TOR's own Corporate Affairs Officer, Godwin Mahama Ayaba, put numbers to the combined ambition in a March 11, 2026 interview with the Daily Graphic, explaining that once completed, the additional facility would increase TOR's total capacity from 60,000 barrels per stream day to about 160,000 barrels per stream day. He added: 

"TOR is back on track, and we will continue to work to expand our capacity and support Ghana's energy security."

That 160,000bpd figure is TOR's own stated target. The wider "200,000bpd" number circulating in energy commentary reflects Ghana's national self-sufficiency threshold rather than TOR alone — one recent analysis noted that to completely eliminate fuel imports, Ghana requires a domestic refining threshold of roughly 150,000 to 200,000 barrels per stream day, a level the combined operations of TOR and the privately-owned Sentuo Oil Refinery are working toward together.

Kombat's announcement wasn't just about crude throughput — a dedicated petrochemical plant is built into the new unit from the outset. Argus reported that the new refinery and petrochemical plant is "planned for implementation" this year, alongside turnaround maintenance on the existing 14,000 barrel-a-day residual fluid catalytic cracker, and that TOR's stated aim to eventually reach 160,000 barrels a day signals greater state-backed ambition for Ghana's refining industry.

A May 2026 industry review from ppPLUS Intelligence sharpened the picture further, describing TOR's new 100,000bpsd refinery as a brand-new processing unit to be built alongside the existing plant at Tema, raising TOR's total capacity from 60,000 to 160,000bpsd and including a dedicated petrochemical plant — while cautioning that no financing structure, EPC contractor, or process licensor had been publicly announced, and no confirmed timeline existed yet.

The second major development is upstream-downstream integration: for the first time since Jubilee Field crude began flowing in 2011, Ghanaian oil is being processed on Ghanaian soil at real volume.

President John Dramani Mahama made the announcement at a Ghana Diaspora Town Hall Meeting in London on May 31, 2026, revealing that a parcel of crude from Ghana's own offshore fields would reach TOR the following month:

"We are just about to make history again. We did it in my first term, but after we left office, it didn't continue. We are about to start refining our own crude. In June, we are delivering a parcel of Ghanaian crude from our own oil fields to the Tema Oil Refinery to process."

He tied the move to fresh upstream investment, disclosing that partners in the Jubilee Field had committed US$2 billion to drill additional wells to boost production, while ENI was expected to invest a further US$1.5 billion in the Offshore Cape Three Points project, stating: "The Jubilee partners have signed an agreement to invest another US$2 billion in drilling new wells offshore Ghana to increase oil and gas production."

The delivery followed through on schedule. Energy Minister Dr. John Abdulai Jinapor disclosed that TOR had successfully received one million barrels of crude oil in May and resumed refining operations in June, with additional supplies of Ghanaian crude planned to sustain production and reduce dependence on imports. He credited close coordination between GNPC, Explorco, Tullow Ghana, Kosmos Energy, Vitol Ghana, TOR and other stakeholders for concluding the arrangement, and linked the timing to global instability, noting the initiative gained additional urgency amid recent geopolitical tensions and concerns over global energy supply disruptions.

At Sentuo Oil Refinery's own Jubilee Crude Oil Berth Ceremony that same month, Trade Minister Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare captured the significance in vivid terms:

"For the first time in Ghana's history as an oil-producing nation, a cargo of Jubilee crude, lifted from beneath our own waters, has arrived not in Rotterdam, Guangdong or the Gulf of Mexico, but here on Ghanaian soil, at a world-class refinery in Tema, to be transformed into fuel that will power Ghanaian homes, businesses and roads."

TOR's Ayaba noted the current deal isn't unprecedented — he told the Daily Graphic that TOR possessed the necessary equipment and expertise to refine Ghana's crude, particularly from the Jubilee and TEN fields, citing an earlier 2016 arrangement in which the government facilitated the supply of about one million barrels of TEN Field crude to the refinery, calling it "a testament to the fact that TOR has the capacity to refine our local crude."

Looking ahead, Mahama confirmed at a June 25, 2026 sod-cutting ceremony for Sentuo's Phase II expansion that TOR had completed its first major turnaround maintenance exercise in four years and would receive a further parcel of Ghana's own crude in July, once fully ramped up. He framed the strategy in national terms: 

"Ghana should not be known merely as a producer of crude oil. Ghana should be recognized as a nation that refines, processes, and adds value to its resources, and becomes a net exporter of petroleum products."

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Sources:

Argus Media — Ghana's TOR plans additional refinery, petchem plant

Graphic Online — TOR can refine Ghana's local crude - Officials insist

Modern Ghana — Ghana's Energy Revolution: The Multi-Billion Dollar Windfall of Local Refining and Tax Reforms

ppPLUS Intelligence Series — Ghana's Refining Outlook, May 2026

Graphic Online — TOR to refine Ghanaian crude oil from June 2026 - President Mahama

Citinewsroom — Trade Minister hails Jubilee Crude processing at Sentuo

Ghana News Agency — TOR to receive parcel of Ghana's own crude oil in July - Mahama