[ 2015-03-26 ]

Minority accuse govt of scheming to sell TOR
Minority lawmakers have accused government of
scheming to sell Tema Oil Refinery under the guise
of a joint venture with Petro Saudi.

Petro Saudi under the partnership will address the
marketing challenges of TOR and enhance its
operations.

Petroleum Minister Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah
disclosed the status of the TOR-Petro Saudi deal
when he appeared in parliament to answer
questions.

But Manhyia South MP, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh
said government isn’t being transparent with the
deal.

“Joint venture means that you are divesting part
of the company…for an underperforming company
like TOR, you either sell or transform, he [Kofi
Buah] just said they are partnering petro-saudi to
transform, but to get a value out of Joint
ownership, you don’t milk your company before
you transform.

“By delaying the necessary investment in TOR,
the value of shares in TOR gets to virtually zero,
so on what basis would a meaningful partnership be
gained by Ghanaians,” Opoku Prempeh said.

But Petroleum Minister Armah-Kofi Buah insists the
deal is transparent and not to sell off the
Refinery.

“The partnership between TOR and Petro-Saudi is
not divesting any asset of TOR; Tema Oil Refinery
is not for sale…there is an engagement on the
marketing arm of TOR…let me make it clear the
government does not intend to sell TOR”.

The Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) is feared to have lost
more than $63 million since July 2012 as a result
of its inability to process and refine crude
because of broken equipment.

Ghana’s only state-run refinery has been
operationally idle since July last year due to the
breakdown of critical equipment.

In August last 2012, Reuters reported that both
the main crude distillation unit and the residual
fuel catalytic converter of the 45,000
barrels-per-day refinery plant had been shut
down.

Reuters reported that a close source within TOR
said: “The changers (a component of the plant)
were blocked and needed to be replaced but lack of
funds has delayed the work”, adding that some
boilers had worn-out.

The faulty equipment were expected to have been
replaced last year. TOR has been plagued by
repeated shut downs over the past few years, often
due to unavailable crude after its main lender
Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) cut off support due to
unpaid debts.

In May 2012, TOR’s Managing Director Ato Ampiah
announced that management had secured some $900
million in financing from banks, BNP Paribas and
Standard Chartered to help the plant settle its
debt backlog and purchase crude supplies.

Even though the government defrayed the state
Bank’s debt a year earlier, TOR still remained
indebted to some bulk oil suppliers. In August
last year, Reuters said its source within TOR
said: “We are still grappling with issues over
crude availability, but for now that was not the
key reason for the current shutdown.”

Kwesi Pratt Jr told Metro TV’s Good Morning
Ghana Newspaper review programme on Wednesday
February 13 that: “TOR has not produced a
teaspoon of crude oil since July, as a result the
Tema Oil Refinery is losing 300,000 dollars a
day”, he charged adding: “Calculate and see
how much we are losing”.

Source - Starrfmonline

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