President John Dramani Mahama has announced that the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) will start processing domestically produced crude oil from this month, a step aimed at boosting local value addition and cutting reliance on imported fuel.
Speaking at a diaspora town hall in London on Sunday, May 31, 2026, President Mahama stated that a cargo of crude from Ghana’s offshore fields would be delivered to TOR in June for refining. He described this as a revival of a policy initiated during his first term but discontinued by the previous administration.
“We are about to make history again. We did it in my first term, but after we left office, it didn’t continue. In June, we are delivering a parcel of Ghanaian crude to Tema Oil Refinery to process it,” he said.
The President criticised the continued export of raw materials like gold, bauxite, and manganese for foreign processing, only to re-import finished products at higher prices. “We send our ores abroad, create jobs in other economies, and then buy back the finished goods,” he noted.
In the energy sector, President Mahama revealed that his government inherited a $1.5 billion debt. A $500 million World Bank Partial Risk Guarantee for gas supplies from the Sankofa Field, earmarked for ENI and partners, had been fully drawn down before he took office.
He said his administration has since fully restored the guarantee, which has also enabled increased gas supply for power generation.
The President also announced new upstream investments: $2 billion from Jubilee Field partners for additional drilling, and another $1.5 billion from ENI for the Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) project.
Regarding debts to independent power producers (IPPs), he said the government has refinanced $1.5 billion in liabilities, established a payment schedule, and consistently met all payments. “They are happy and producing power, and our power sector is stable,” he added.
