Explosion at TOR threatens fuel security

The Institute for Energy Security (IES) have indicated that the country might be plunged into a phase of fuel shortage if urgent measures are not taken to restore the fuel production capacity of the Tema Oil refinery following yesterday’s explosion.

According to them, the explosion of a furnace at the refinery which was supporting fuel production will have devastating effects on the country’s crude oil supply if immediate measures are not put in place to rectify the situation and find possible solutions.

A furnace at the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) exploded around 10.am Thursday morning while production was ongoing, forcing the management of the refinery to shut down the CDU.

The furnace which was commissioned on December 2, 2016 as part of an expansion project by TOR to increase its processing capacity until the explosion had the capacity to supply approximately 61% of the country’s fuel demand.

Prior to the commissioning of the new furnace, TOR’s production had reduced from 45,000 barrels of crude oil per day to 28,000 barrels because one of the furnaces at the CDU had broken down fours years earlier.

A statement signed by the Principal Research Analyst of the institute, Richmond Rockson indicates that that there is a high prospect of the country’s fuel security being jeopardized creating unemployment and eventually push back gains made so far by TOR if immediate investigations are not done to determine the cause of the blow-up and appropriate steps taken to restore capacity while preserving the remaining production capacity.

They are therefore calling on government to as a matter of urgency set up prompt investigations into the incident to avoid any negative implications on the country’s socio-economic growth.