One million barrels of Nigerian crude oil arrived at the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) aboard the MT Cap Felix on Wednesday, May 27 — the most substantial feedstock delivery to Ghana’s state-owned refinery in years and a critical test of whether the facility can sustain a genuine comeback.
The cargo of Bonga crude oil, sourced from Shell and channelled through TOR’s tolling partner Fujairah/Triangle Commodities Trading (TCT), arrived as part of the refinery’s ongoing revitalisation and crude processing programme. The tolling model, under which a third party finances or owns the crude while TOR processes it in exchange for a share of refined products, has become the refinery’s primary mechanism for securing feedstock without bearing the full upfront cost of crude procurement — a constraint that has repeatedly stalled its recovery.
“The receipt of the Bonga crude marks another significant milestone in TOR’s efforts to restore stable refining activities, improve national energy security and reduce Ghana’s dependence on imported refined petroleum products,” the refinery’s management stated.
Bonga crude is sourced from the deepwater Bonga oil field situated in the Gulf of Guinea, roughly 120 kilometres offshore the Niger Delta in Nigeria. It is recognised for its high-quality, low-sulphur characteristics and favourable refining yields — properties that make it comparatively cheaper and more efficient to process than heavier, high-sulphur grades.
TOR resumed limited operations in December after lying dormant since April 2021, initially running at 28,000 barrels per day with all product streams going to storage for the first time in several years. However, the restart proved short-lived; feedstock shortages and operational constraints brought activity to a halt again earlier this year, making the latest crude delivery all the more consequential for management’s credibility.
TOR says the shipment is expected to produce substantial quantities of petroleum products including LPG, gasoline, diesel, kerosene, aviation turbine kerosene, and fuel oil for both domestic and regional markets. If processing proceeds without fresh disruption, those outputs could begin to ease a domestic supply gap that has grown considerably over recent years.
Ghana’s reliance on clean product imports has more than doubled since 2017, reaching approximately 128,000 barrels per day — comprising around 65,000 barrels per day of diesel and 52,000 barrels per day of gasoline. A consistently operating refinery would reduce pressure on the country’s foreign exchange reserves and limit its exposure to swings in global fuel prices.
The wider regional picture adds further urgency. Nigeria’s 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote refinery was the single largest supplier of petroleum products to Ghana this year, sending some 27,000 barrels per day. As Dangote scales up and reshapes supply dynamics across West Africa, TOR faces mounting pressure to restore its own relevance within the region’s evolving refining landscape.
Management reaffirmed the refinery’s commitment to transparency, operational excellence, and the long-term transformation of TOR into a competitive and commercially sustainable energy hub for Ghana and the broader West African market. Whether the latest crude intake translates into uninterrupted production — or becomes yet another false start — will depend on how well the refinery resolves the financing, maintenance and feedstock security challenges that have defined its troubled recent history.
By: Andrews Kwesi Yeboah