The recovery of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) has created 1,657 permanent and temporary jobs, with more than 6,500 indirect and temporary workers also engaged during turnaround maintenance, Managing Director Edmond Kombat has disclosed.
Speaking at the Government Accountability Series at Jubilee House on Monday, October 26, 2026, Mr Kombat said the employment opportunities formed part of the broader economic benefits of restoring operations at the state-owned refinery after years of operational difficulties.
He said the recovery programme had opened up opportunities for young engineers, technical workers and local contractors, contributing to job creation and economic activity.
According to him, 415 young engineers had been recruited into permanent positions, while 301 temporary workers were engaged for maintenance work on the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) and another 287 for work on the Residue Fluid Catalytic Cracking (RFCC) unit.
An additional 654 workers were employed by 35 local contractors operating at the refinery.
“TOR’s recovery has created 1,657 permanent and temporary jobs,” Mr Kombat said.
He added that the turnaround maintenance had generated employment beyond the refinery’s direct workforce, with more than 6,500 indirect and temporary workers engaged during the works.
“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.
TOR recovery programme
Mr Kombat said the employment figures reflected the potential of the refinery’s recovery to support livelihoods and contribute to Ghana’s industrial development.
TOR had faced significant operational challenges before the current management assumed office in May 2025. The refinery’s CDU had been shut down since April 2021, while the RFCC unit had been inactive since 2019.
The shutdown of the two major processing units had restricted the refinery’s activities largely to storage services, limiting its ability to perform its core function of processing crude oil.
Management subsequently introduced Project Restore TOR, which prioritised the rehabilitation and restart of the CDU, improvements to financial controls and efforts to rebuild confidence among workers and business partners.
As part of efforts to address internal staff concerns, Mr Kombat said management had resolved more than 300 outstanding staff petitions and promotion-related cases, some of which had remained unresolved for more than a decade.
He said management had also initiated measures to improve staff welfare, including reviews of conditions of service, job descriptions and performance-management systems.
Expansion plans
Beyond the immediate recovery efforts, TOR’s programme includes further work on the RFCC unit, boiler systems, crude-heating equipment and other infrastructure aimed at improving the refinery’s operational capacity.
Mr Kombat said plans to expand the refinery would create further economic opportunities as Ghana seeks to increase its domestic refining capacity.
He added that management intended to pursue additional development projects, including a new refinery, petrochemical facilities and expanded storage capacity.
According to him, the broader objective is to build a more sustainable refinery that can support employment, industrial development and national energy security.
