TOR WORKERS OBJECT TO GNPC SELLING OIL (PAGE 14, DEC 10)

WORKERS of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) have objected to the decision by the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) to divert from its core business of exploration into selling of finished products.
Daily Graphic investigations at the refinery revealed that the ongoing discussions between TOR and GNPC over the 700,000 barrels of crude oil brought into the country last Sunday, are centred on the corporation’s decision to allow TOR to process the crude while the Bulk Oil Storage Transportation (BOST) takes delivery and sells to the Oil Marketing Companies on behalf of GNPC.
This development, according to sources, would see the corporation paying processing fee to the refinery.
The consignment, valued at $62 million, was discharged from the vessel MT Ariadni to avoid demurrage as persistent holding of the vessel could see GNPC paying a penalty of 10 per cent of the total cost of the product per day.
It is alleged that top government officials at the helm of affairs at the corporation would rake in profit margins between GH¢30,000 to GH¢50,000 per stream supply of crude oil processed by TOR should the proposal for payment of processing fee be accepted by the TOR board and management.
Aggrieved workers who spoke on anonymity to the Daily Graphic noted that the decision to make the refinery a tolling facility would among other things deepen the financial woes of the refinery, which had already been declared bankrupt following huge debt deficits that served as an albatross around the neck of successive governments.
“Our decision to embark on an industrial unrest would not change should the government decides to move along with charlatans in the oil industry who would want to subvert TOR’s core function,” a worker remarked.
They have, therefore, appealed to the government to raise sovereign guarantees to help the refinery procure its own crude and also restrain GNPC from interfering in the refinery’s business and concentrate on its core business of exploration.
The source regretted that the government was not attaching any importance to the activities of the refinery, which he described as one of the pivots of the country’s economy.
When contacted on phone, the Director of Exploration and Production of GNPC, Mr Thomas Manu, said the issue was purely a marketing one which ought to be addressed by the Chief Executive Officer of the corporation.
The Chief Executive, Nana Boakye Asafu-Adjaye, could, however, not be reached for his comments as he was reported to be in a meeting as of press time.