TOR targets 55,000 barrels per stream day as F-61 crude heater work continues

The Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) is working to increase its crude-processing rate from approximately 28,000 barrels per stream day to between 45,000 and 55,000 barrels per stream day, Managing Director Edmond Kombat has announced.

He said engineers from Verga Engineering were working alongside TOR’s technical team to complete the tie-in and commission the F-61 crude heater, a critical component in the refinery’s ongoing operational recovery.

Speaking at the Government Accountability Series at Jubilee House on Monday, October 26, 2026, Mr Kombat said the work was expected to improve the performance of the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) and move the plant towards its nameplate capacity.

“Engineers from Verga Engineering are currently on site, working on with TOR’s technical team to increase the throughput to between 45,000bpsd to 55,000bpsd,” he said.

The CDU was refurbished under a turnaround maintenance programme conducted between August 1 and October 30, 2025. Crude processing resumed on December 19, 2025, after the National Petroleum Authority inspected the plant and cleared it for operations.

President John Dramani Mahama subsequently commissioned the refurbished unit on August 1, 2026.

Mr Kombat said management had prioritised the CDU’s rehabilitation after inheriting a refinery whose major processing units had remained inactive for several years.

The CDU had been out of operation since April 2021, while the Residue Fluid Catalytic Cracking (RFCC) unit had been shut down since 2019.

He said the turnaround maintenance was funded entirely from TOR’s internally generated funds and carried out by the refinery’s engineers and technicians.

“Work also resumed on critical stalled projects, including Boiler No. 8, the F-61 Crude Heater, the Residue Air Cooler and the Steam Turbine Generator,” he said.

Management is also planning to install a new air cooler to increase processing capacity to 60,000 barrels per stream day and replace the existing 6,500-barrel-a-day catalytic reformers with a 10,000-barrel-per-day continuous catalytic reformer.

Mr Kombat said a new 120-tonne boiler had been installed, while work continued on the RFCC turnaround and the SCADA system.

Beyond the immediate engineering interventions, the government has directed TOR’s board and management to develop a roadmap for increasing processing capacity to 100,000 barrels per day, with a longer-term ambition of reaching 200,000 barrels per day.

Mr Kombat said the proposed improvements were intended to strengthen refining capacity, improve operational reliability and increase the refinery’s contribution to domestic petroleum supply.

He acknowledged that the recovery process was ongoing, adding that management remained focused on completing outstanding engineering works and sustaining the gains made since operations resumed.