TOR Records GH¢1.24bn Profit in 2025
The Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) has posted a profit before tax of approximately GH¢1.24 billion in 2025, marking its first annual profit in a decade and sparking cautious optimism about the future of one of Ghana’s most strategic state-owned enterprises.
The announcement, made by the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), describes the performance as a significant milestone in TOR’s recovery journey after years of sustained financial losses and operational difficulties.
According to SIGA, the improved result was driven by strong revenue growth, improved receivables management, a reduction in trade payables, declining debt levels, and the successful completion of critical turnaround maintenance works.
The refinery also refined approximately 600,000 barrels of crude oil during the period, reflecting a partial restoration of operational capacity that had been severely constrained in previous years.
A major contributor to the 2025 profit was a foreign exchange gain of about GH¢1.3 billion, which significantly boosted the refinery’s bottom line. However, analysts caution that such gains are volatile and may not be repeated in future financial years.
Despite the headline profit, TOR’s historical performance remains a reminder of deep-rooted structural challenges. Over the past decade, the refinery has struggled with heavy indebtedness, obsolete infrastructure, weak working capital, inconsistent crude supply, and prolonged shutdowns that forced Ghana to rely heavily on imported refined petroleum products.
At various points, operations stalled completely, while legacy debts and delayed financial reporting further weakened confidence in the institution’s long-term viability.
Under current management led by Edmond Kombat, TOR has embarked on a restructuring programme focused on debt rationalisation, cost containment, improved recovery of receivables, and operational rehabilitation of key units such as the Crude Distillation Unit and the Residue Fluid Catalytic Cracker.
The completion of turnaround maintenance has restored partial refining capacity and improved efficiency, contributing to the improved financial outcome.
However, SIGA has acknowledged that significant challenges persist, including liquidity constraints, accumulated losses, and the need for deeper balance sheet restructuring to ensure long-term sustainability.
The central question now is whether the 2025 performance represents the beginning of a durable turnaround or a short-lived rebound driven by favourable accounting and exchange rate conditions.
For TOR, the test going forward will be its ability to consistently generate profits from core refining operations rather than rely on external gains such as foreign exchange movements.
While the 2025 result has restored some confidence in the refinery’s prospects, stakeholders caution that one profitable year is not sufficient to reverse a decade of structural weaknesses.
As Ghana continues to review its energy security and refining capacity strategy, TOR’s performance will remain under close scrutiny from policymakers, investors, and taxpayers.
For now, the refinery has taken an important step forward, but whether it can sustain the momentum remains an open question.
