Ghanaian refinery still plagued by arrears

Despite restarting production on 21 October after securing bank letters of credit to purchase a 600,000 barrel crude consignment from Nigeria, the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) continues to operate at well below its 45,000b/d capacity. The refinery has been closed three times since reopening in April 2013, following an eight-month shutdown from mid-2012. TOR public affairs manager Aba Lokko told African Energy the refinery would continue to operate at 28,000 b/d until it received $37.7m from the government, the second tranche of a promised $67.7m finance package to rehabilitate the facility and boost capacity.