Tema oil refinery still without crude: government

Tema, Ghana's only oil refinery, remains without crude oil supply due to a delay in a shipment from Nigeria that had been expected by early October, a government official told Reuters on Thursday.

"We have had some technical hitches with the arrangements but they have been resolved and we are expecting supplies soon," Deputy Energy Minister Kwabena Donkor told Reuters.

The plant has a capacity of 45,000 barrels per day but has been virtually without feedstock since February after a huge debt burden to Ghana Commercial Bank and service providers totalling about $600 million forced it to cut operations.

Ghana President John Atta Mills paid a visit to the refinery on Thursday following reports that the workers had become agitated and had planned to vandalise the pipes in protest at what they say is the government's failure to procure oil.

"The only reason why I am here is to reassure you that we are doing all we can to get crude," Mills told the workers, who chanted slogans urging the government to speed up efforts to get the refinery operational.