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Ghana’s state-owned Tema Oil Refinery Ltd has resumed crude oil refining operations after a period of inactivity, according to the company’s management.
“With the required regulatory clearance, refining operations began on Friday, December 19, 2025, with all the lines of petroleum products going to storage for the first time in several years,” the company announced in a statement posted on its X account on Saturday.
The resumption follows a three-month turnaround maintenance programme on the refinery’s crude distillation unit, carried out between August 1 and October 30, 2025, in line with international engineering, safety and operational standards.
After the maintenance works, the National Petroleum Authority conducted regulatory inspections and confirmed that the refinery met all mandatory safety and operational requirements, approving operations to resume.
“The maintenance works were undertaken in strict compliance with international engineering, safety, and operational standards,” the company added.
“Following the completion of the TAM, the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) conducted comprehensive regulatory inspections and confirmed TOR’s full compliance with all mandatory safety and operational requirements.
Consequently, the NPA granted clearance for the resumption of refining activities.”
The state-owned refinery added that it will continue operating in the coming months as part of a phased approach aimed at stabilising systems and optimising performance ahead of formal recommissioning.
“As part of a phased transition toward full operational capacity, and in advance of the refinery’s official recommissioning, TOR will continue operating over the coming months to stabilise systems, optimise performance, and ensure sustained operational reliability.”
As part of the upgrade, the refinery said it has installed a new furnace, known as F-61, which will be commissioned and integrated into the crude distillation unit in the near term.
“In addition, TOR has completed the installation of a new furnace, F-61, which will soon be commissioned and integrated into the CDU. This critical upgrade will enable the refinery to restore its original nameplate capacity of 45,000 barrels per stream day (bpsd), up from the current operating level of 28,000 bpsd, with a clear strategic pathway to expand the capacity to 60,000 bpsd in the medium term, following the installation of a new air cooler.
“The Government of Ghana will formally commission and tie in the F-61 furnace at a later date. Details regarding the commissioning event, including timing and arrangements, will be duly communicated to stakeholders and the general public in due course.”
