Government says it is currently receiving proposals from potential strategic investors for a possible restructuring of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR).

The Tema Oil Refinery, which is Ghana’s first and only refinery, has not been operational for a while now due to many challenges.

Several Civil Society Organizations such as the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers and the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), have been at the forefront of calls on the government to do all it can to get the refinery back on its feet.

But speaking to Citi News, the Minister of Public Enterprises, Joseph Cudjoe, says the proposals from these investors will see them provide funding and other technological know-how on how better to manage the refinery.

“At the moment, the Ministry of Energy is receiving proposals from potential strategic investors for restructuring, and so we are looking at that window where the strategic investors can bring in the necessary funds, technical expertise and technologies for it to operate as expected. At the moment, it is not operating at the level it is expected to operate at,” he said.

TOR, the only refinery in Ghana, has the capacity of producing 45,000 barrels per stream day but is currently producing about 26,000 barrels.

Analysts including the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) have been consistent in their calls for TOR’s capacity to be built to enable it to operate at full capacity.

According to COPEC, when the capacity of TOR is built, it would be able to help cushion Ghanaians when fuel prices on the global market go up.