By Francis Ntow
Accra, Oct. 27, GNA – The resumption of operations at the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) has helped contain fuel price pressures, preventing pump prices from rising to between GH¢22 and GH¢32 per litre, Mr Edmond Kombat, Managing Director, has said.
He said domestic refining, alongside government interventions, had helped cushion consumers against rising international crude oil prices and kept fuel prices relatively affordable during the last two pricing windows.
Mr Kombat made the disclosure at the Government Accountability Series on Monday, where he outlined TOR’s operational status and recovery programme under the theme: “From Decline to Recovery.”
He explained that TOR’s return to refining had strengthened domestic fuel security and availability for Ghana and its Sahelian neighbours amid global supply disruptions.
“We are witnessing Ghanaian crude being refined by Ghanaian engineers in a Ghanaian refinery effectively linking the Ghanaian petroleum upstream, midstream and downstream together.
“But for the restoration of TOR and other domestic production with government intervention, fuel prices in the last two Windows could have sold between GHS22/litre to GHS32/litre,” he said.
The Chamber of Oil Marketing Companies (COMAC), in its pricing outlook for the second pricing window of October 2026, projected petrol at GH¢17.67 per litre and diesel at GH¢19.30 per litre for cash purchases, with diesel selling at GH¢19.60 per litre on credit.
The projections put the average price of the two main transport fuels at GH¢18.49 per litre, below the GH¢22 to GH¢32 per litre range cited by the TOR Managing Director as a possible outcome without domestic refining and other interventions.
The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) set minimum prices of GH¢16.09 per litre for petrol and GH¢17.09 for diesel for October 16 to 31, down from GH¢16.45 and GH¢17.97, respectively, in the first pricing window.
Mr Kombat said TOR had received more than five million barrels of crude oil in 2026, compared with none in 2024, following the resumption of operations at its Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) on December 19, 2025.
The unit had been idle since April 2021.
Mr.Kombat said government-industry interventions during the October 1 pricing window enabled TOR and Sentuo Oil to supply Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) at previous prices, cushioning consumers after a GH¢2 diesel levy threatened to increase pump prices.
TOR’s current maximum processing capacity of 45,000 barrels per stream day could account for about 35 per cent of Ghana’s daily imports of 128,000 barrels of clean petroleum products recorded in 2025, potentially reducing the country’s reliance on imported finished products.
Mr Kombat said TOR’s expansion plans, which aim to increase its processing capacity to 100,000 barrels per day and eventually 200,000 barrels per day, are intended to enable the refinery to meet about 70 per cent of national fuel demand locally by 2028.
He pledged continued collaboration with the NPA, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), GOIL PLC and BOST Energies to increase the supply of locally refined petroleum products, strengthen fuel security and support greater stability in pump prices.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Sackey
Reporter: Francis Ntow
Email: [email protected]