Ghana’s Tema Refinery Resumes Operations After Four-Year Shutdown
Ghana’s state-owned Tema Oil Refinery has resumed crude oil refining operations on December 19, 2025, after several years of inactivity. The achievement follows the successful completion of major Turnaround Maintenance works on the Crude Distillation Unit, executed within three months from August 1 to October 30, 2025. Following the completion of maintenance, the National Petroleum Authority conducted comprehensive regulatory inspections and confirmed the refinery’s full compliance with all mandatory safety and operational requirements, subsequently granting clearance for the resumption of refining activities.
The refinery is currently running at 28,000 barrels per day, with all product streams going to storage for the first time in several years. The site has capacity to store 260,000 tonnes of products and 1.93 million barrels of crude. As part of a phased transition toward full operational capacity, the refinery will continue operating over the coming months to stabilize systems, optimize performance, and ensure sustained operational reliability. The facility has completed installation of a new furnace which will soon be commissioned and integrated into the CDU, enabling the refinery to restore its original nameplate capacity of 45,000 barrels per stream day, up from the current operating level of 28,000 barrels per stream day.
The restart is expected to significantly reduce Ghana’s reliance on clean product imports, which have more than doubled since 2017 to 128,000 barrels per day this year, including 65,000 barrels per day of diesel and 52,000 barrels per day of gasoline. Nigeria’s 650,000 barrels per day Dangote refinery was the biggest supplier this year, sending 27,000 barrels per day of oil products to Ghana.
Source: allafrica.com, africaoilgasreport.com
