Managing Director of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), Edmond Kombat, has disclosed that the refinery’s recovery has created 1,657 jobs and engaged more than 6,500 indirect and temporary workers.
Speaking at the Government Accountability Series at Jubilee House on Monday, October 26, 2026, Mr Kombat said the recovery programme had provided employment opportunities for young engineers, technical workers and local contractors.
He disclosed that 415 young engineers had been recruited into permanent positions, while 301 temporary workers were engaged in maintenance work on the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) and another 287 on the Residual Fluid Catalytic Cracking (RFCC) unit.
A further 654 workers were employed by 35 local contractors working at the refinery.
“TOR’s recovery has created 1,657 permanent and temporary jobs,” he said.
Mr Kombat said the employment impact extended beyond the refinery’s direct workforce, with thousands of additional workers engaged during the maintenance programme.
“In effect, direct employment for 1,657 Young Ghanaian Engineers, and more than 6,500 indirect and temporary workers were engaged during the turnaround works,” he stated.
The recovery programme comes after years of operational difficulties that left the refinery’s major processing units out of service. The CDU had been shut down since April 2021, while the RFCC unit had remained inactive since 2019.
The prolonged shutdowns restricted TOR’s operations largely to storage services, limiting its ability to process crude oil.
To reverse the situation, management introduced Project Restore TOR following its assumption of office in May 2025. The programme focuses on rehabilitating and restarting the CDU, improving financial controls and restoring confidence among workers and business partners.
Mr Kombat also disclosed that management had addressed more than 300 outstanding staff petitions and promotion-related cases, some of which had remained unresolved for over a decade.
He said efforts to improve staff welfare included reviews of conditions of service, job descriptions and performance-management systems.
Beyond the rehabilitation of the CDU, the recovery programme includes further work on the RFCC unit, boiler systems, crude-heating equipment and other infrastructure required to improve the refinery’s operational capacity.
Mr Kombat said management intended to pursue additional development projects, including plans for a new refinery, petrochemical facilities and expanded storage capacity.
He said the planned projects would help increase Ghana’s domestic refining capacity and create further opportunities for employment and industrial development.
The broader objective, he added, is to build a sustainable refinery that supports job creation, strengthens the country’s industrial base and contributes to national energy security.
