GOVT TO RELEASE $50m TO TOR FOR RETOOLING

THE Government is set to release $50 million to the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) for retooling as part of its immediate strategies to recapitalise the refinery.

This followed extensive consultations which culminated in a closed-door meeting that took place on August 18, 2011 involved President John Evans Mills and the leadership of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in partnership with the refinery’s workers union and the Union of Industry, Commerce and Finance Workers (UNICOF).

The meeting also discussed the recent incessant shortages of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) following weeks of inactivity at the refinery’s two major plants, the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) and the Residual Fluid Catalytic Cracker (RFCC), as well as the continual shutdown of the two plants over the last eight months.

An official source at the meeting told the Daily Graphic that the difficulties being encountered by TOR, especially over the last two years, had been of great concern to the President, who immediately called for a stakeholders’ meeting at which the challenges were discussed.

The meeting, which was held on August 22, 2011 and chaired by the Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, had in attendance the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, the Attorney-General, Mr Martin Amidu, the Information Minister, Mr John Tia Akologo, and one of deputies, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, as well as officials of the Energy Ministry.

Also at the meeting were the board chairman of TOR, Mr Eric Okai, and the Managing Director, Mr Ato Ampiah, Mr Alex Mould of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), representatives of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Messers Kofi Asamoah of the TUC and Kofi Gavoh of UNICOF.

The meeting resolved that since the government over the years had not resourced TOR financially, resulting in a significant proxy borrowing by the refinery that nearly crippled its entire operations, there was the need for the Cabinet and the Finance ministry to raise additional $200 million as an operational fund to enable it to co-ordinate its activities of crude oil purchases among others.

The refinery’s management has, therefore, been tasked to submit its audited financial report to the government as the sole shareholder, to enable it to determine the way forward on the recommendations.

The deputy information minister, Mr Okudzeto Ablakwa, who confirmed the meeting to the Daily Graphic when contacted, indicated that the refinery’s management was to present its financial audit statement for study, “since we all agreed that there were certain things that needed to be done that included account management, audit of management systems, including the human factor”.

He said TOR’s board and management had agreed to submit the three reports by the end of September and as soon as that was done and the government was satisfied, the $50 million would be released.

Asked whether the government in the meantime would support the refinery with its crude oil purchase arrangement, Mr Ablakwa said the government would only intervene if management approached officials on the issue.

Source: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Tue, August 30, 2011