President John Dramani Mahama has announced that the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) will begin processing Ghana’s crude oil in June 2026, as part of efforts to strengthen local value addition and reduce dependence on imported refined petroleum products.
He said a shipment of crude oil from Ghana’s offshore fields will be delivered to TOR for processing, describing the move as a revival of an initiative started during his previous administration.
Speaking at a diaspora town hall meeting in London on Sunday, May 31, 2026, President Mahama said Ghana must take greater control of its natural resources by refining more of them locally instead of exporting raw materials.
“We are just about to make history again. We did it in my first term, but after we left office it didn’t continue. We are about to start refining our own crude. In June, we are delivering a parcel of Ghanaian crude from our own oil fields to the Tema Oil Refinery to process,” he said.
He also criticised the country’s continued reliance on exporting raw minerals such as gold, bauxite, and manganese, only to import finished products at higher costs.
“We process manganese, bauxite, gold and everything and then we ship them out to be processed by somebody else. In that processing, we are creating jobs in that other person’s economy. Then the products for which we sent the ores abroad are made into finished products and exported back to us,” he added.
President Mahama further disclosed that when his administration took office, the energy sector was burdened with significant financial challenges, including debts estimated at US$1.5 billion.
He said a World Bank Partial Risk Guarantee of US$500 million, which supports payments to Italian energy company ENI and its partners for gas supplied from the Sankofa Field, had been fully drawn down before his government assumed office.
“At the time we took over, that World Bank guarantee had been drawn down to zero. Today, through the work of the Minister of Energy and the Minister of Finance, we have restored it fully to US$500 million. As a result, they have also expanded the amount of gas they are giving us, which we use to generate power,” he said.
On investments in the oil and gas sector, the President revealed that partners in the Jubilee Field have committed US$2 billion to drill additional wells to boost production, while ENI is expected to invest a further US$1.5 billion in the Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) project.
“The Jubilee partners have signed an agreement to invest another US$2 billion in drilling new wells offshore Ghana to increase oil and gas production. We have also signed with ENI to invest another US$1.5 billion in the OCTP field to increase production,” he said.
Touching on the power sector, he noted that government has refinanced outstanding debts owed to independent power producers through structured payment plans, helping to stabilise the energy sector.
“We have refinanced that debt, given them a payment plan and we have met every single payment. They are happy and producing power, and our power sector is stable,” he said.
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