The Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) has denied allegations of a takeover by a Chinese-owned private oil refinery, Sentuo Oil Refinery Ltd.

This follows some allegations made by the Executive Director of ASEPA, Mensah Thompson.

In a statement issued on Monday, April 8, Mr. Thompson had revealed that on April 4, ASEPA received a whistle-blower alert from a TOR insider about a meeting between TOR management and the Chinese-owned private oil refinery.

The meeting was allegedly to discuss the sale of the national refinery to Sentuo.

“The meeting, we were informed lasted from 10 am to 1 pm at the premises of the TOR after which there was a large celebration at Sentuo Oil Refinery Ltd to celebrate the outcome of the supposed meeting. The said meeting till now has not been reported in the media and neither has Tema Oil Refinery issued an official statement on the matter,” it added.

In view of this, ASEPA announced that it is invoking the Right to Information Law to compel both TOR and Sentuo Oil Refinery to disclose the nature of their relationship and confirm whether TOR has been outrightly sold to Sentuo, or if certain aspects of TOR’s operations have been transferred to Sentuo.

But TOR in a statement on Wednesday, April 10, 2024, emphasised that no talks have taken place regarding the sale of the refinery.

According to management, “We have not entered into any unapproved mergers or acquisitions.”

Giving more details, TOR explained that Sentuo currently pays them to store some of its crude oil in the refinery’s storage tanks and when Sentuo is ready to refine the crude oil, TOR pumps it back to them.

The statement concluded by clarifying that, “TOR cherishes its relationship with its stakeholders. Therefore, any noteworthy adjustments or developments will be disclosed in a clear and open manner.”

“As far as its activities are concerned, TOR is steadfast in its commitment to promoting understanding and explicitly asserts that the management of the Refinery has not been taken over.”