Affordable Fuel Starts With A Revived TOR | Economy

A well-retooled Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) may provide Ghanaians much-needed reduction within the face of a rising financial disaster that has seen pump costs of gasoline merchandise shoot up by greater than one hundred pc this yr, the power think-tank Institute for Energy Security (IES) has mentioned.

In the present financial local weather the place nations are more and more in search of extra home-grown options to climate the storm, it mentioned there isn't any higher time than now to lastly revamp the ailing refinery – since this might be pivotal in remodeling the nation's financial fortunes.

The IES' feedback come on the again of stories about prime government officers having to depart the nation's shores to hunt for what they describe as 'dependable and common sources of inexpensive petroleum merchandise'.

The IES, due to this fact, believes that government's continuous urge for food for dependable and inexpensive gasoline elsewhere defeats the president's proclaimed intention for TOR and the financial system of Ghana.

“Instead of giving priority to domestic refining of Ghana's indigenous crude oil, government is rather resorting to gambling on the importation of liquid fuels without giving a thought to the guarantee of sufficient and reliable supply of the same,” an IES assertion mentioned.

It mentioned the seek for that closely discounted gasoline value from elsewhere is an unrealistic hope, and the workforce might return empty-handed except the expectation/request is exchanged with one thing precious to the would-be provider.

“It is shocking to hear that the energy ministry is actually leading a group roaming the world looking for reliable and regular sources of affordable petroleum products for Ghanaians, abandoning its role of urgently bringing TOR into an operational mode to provide that reliability for an uninterrupted supply of fuel to the country,” the assertion additional lamented.

It additionally described government's sudden urge for food for imported fuels to deal with reliability and cost-related points on the expense of revamping the nation's solely refinery as reactionary, morally indefensible, a misplaced precedence and a deliberate try to extend the Ghanaian financial system's fiscal burden.

Rather, it famous, the seek for a dependable and inexpensive supply of petroleum merchandise begins with the Tema Oil Refinery, which has been down since March 2021 on account of lack of crude oil – the refinery's foremost uncooked materials.

The assertion, signed by Fritz Moses – a analysis analyst at IES, insisted that the state is best off prioritizing native crude refining as an alternative of importing refined merchandise.

“It beats one's imagination how an oil-producing country with a refinery capacity of 45,000 barrels per stream day (bpsd) will have its top government officials abandon its domestic competitive advantage and rather seek to import refined petroleum product from elsewhere in the name of reliability and affordability,” a part of the assertion mentioned.

“Once more, the Institute for Energy Security (IES) wishes to appeal to the president to look within – bring back TOR in the shortest possible time, refine Ghana's crude domestically, work to strengthen the local currency, and ensure an adequate amount of dollars is made available to importers of fuel,” it additional added.