New refinery not needed now - ACEP tells Prez

Head of Policy Unit at the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) Ishmael Ackah has said there is no need for a new oil refinery in addition to the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) at this point in time in the economic life of Ghana.

This is a direct response to President John Dramani Mahama who on Monday May 9 gave a hint that his government had intentions of building a second refinery on the premises of TOR, currently the oil-producing West African country’s only refinery.

Mr Mahama, who toured the facility with visiting Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Dr Keith Christopher Rowley on Monday May 9, said the second refinery would help Ghana refine about 100,000 barrels of oil daily.

But speaking in an interview with classfmonline.com on Tuesday, Mr Ackah noted that establishing a new refinery would be a misplaced priority.

He proposed that the existing refinery, TOR, must be made efficient, and also be expanded to be able to perform up to expectation.

Also, TOR would need to refine the crude produced locally, he said.

He added that there was the need to equip TOR with more equipment in order to live up to its task.

“A new refinery is not what we need at the moment. We need to make TOR efficient up to about 90 per cent and also expand it up to about 95 per cent,” he said, adding that TOR must be elevated to “the point where it can refine the crude we produce in the country”.