President John Dramani Mahama is expected to officially commission the discharge of one million barrels of crude oil from Ghana’s Jubilee Field into the storage tanks of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) in the coming weeks, as government moves to strengthen domestic refining capacity.
The development was disclosed to Energy CrossRoad.com by the Managing Director of Tema Oil Refinery, Edmond Kombat, on the sidelines of the refinery’s 18th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Accra on Tuesday.
The crude supply forms part of government’s commitment to revive TOR’s operations and increase the production of refined petroleum products, including petrol, diesel, LPG and other petroleum derivatives for the domestic market.
President Mahama recently announced that one million barrels of crude oil from the Jubilee Field would be allocated to TOR for processing, describing the move as part of efforts to increase the use of locally produced crude in Ghana’s downstream petroleum sector, reduce dependence on imported refined products and restore TOR as a strategic national asset.
Mr. Kombat said all necessary agreements have been completed to enable the crude cargo to be delivered to the refinery, following the successful completion of key rehabilitation works, including the Turnaround Maintenance (TAM) of the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU).
“Indeed, the vessel that is going to pick up that crude is called MT Apache. It has been approved by the NPA and DPMs, and we are expecting the crude to berth between July 13 and July 17, 2026,” he told Energy CrossRoad.com.
He added that President Mahama, together with the Minister for Energy and Green Transition and other key stakeholders, will participate in the official commissioning ceremony.
“The President himself will be coming together with the Energy Minister and the entire team to do the official commissioning,” Mr. Kombat stated.
The delivery of the Jubilee crude is expected to provide critical feedstock for TOR’s refinery operations following the return of the CDU to sustained production after its maintenance programme.
The refinery management has maintained that TOR has the technical capability to process Ghana’s locally produced crude and contribute significantly to the country’s energy security agenda.
The latest crude delivery will mark the second time TOR is receiving Ghanaian crude from the Jubilee Field. In December 2016, the crude vessel MT Odera delivered one million barrels of Jubilee crude to the Tema Oil Refinery for processing.
The move is expected to further support TOR’s recovery efforts and government’s broader objective of maximising value from Ghana’s crude resources through local refining.