Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) has recorded its first profit in nearly a decade after posting a profit after tax of GH¢1.24 billion for the 2025 financial year, marking a significant turnaround for the state-owned refinery.
The announcement was made at the company’s 18th Annual General Meeting (AGM), held yesterday, Tuesday, where shareholders, representatives of the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), the Ministry of Finance, and other key stakeholders gathered to review the refinery’s performance.
The meeting was attended by the Minister for Energy and Green Transition, Dr John Abdulai Jinapor.
A key outcome of the AGM was the consideration of nine years of audited financial statements covering the 2017 to 2025 financial years. The accounts, audited by KPMG in collaboration with the Ghana Audit Service, were presented as part of efforts to strengthen transparency, accountability and sound corporate governance at the refinery.
According to the TOR, the approval of the audited accounts marks a major milestone in improving the company’s governance and financial reporting, following several years without up-to-date audited statements.
The refinery said the GH¢1.24 billion Profit After Tax for 2025 marks its first return to profitability since 2017, ending a prolonged period of financial losses.
Management attributed the turnaround to the collective efforts of the Board, management, staff, the Government and other stakeholders, as well as reforms aimed at improving operational efficiency and financial discipline.
TOR also credited the achievement to the policy direction of President John Dramani Mahama, whose Reset Agenda for the management of state-owned enterprises places emphasis on transparency, accountability, operational excellence and the revitalisation of strategic public institutions.
Despite the milestone, the refinery said it remained focused on restoring its operations and strengthening its position within Ghana’s energy sector.
It said its long-term objective is to re-establish Tema Oil Refinery as a world-class refinery capable of enhancing the country’s energy security, creating value for Ghanaians and contributing to national economic transformation.
The government is taking steps to ring-fence the TOR’s debt, despite the state-owned refinery recording a profit after tax of GH¢1.24 billion in 2025.
According to the Minister for Energy and Green Transition, the move is intended to clean up TOR’s balance sheet and position the refinery for long-term financial sustainability and growth.
Addressing the AGM, Mr Jinapor said the government is committed to transforming the refinery into a commercially viable institution capable of attracting investment and strengthening Ghana’s energy security.
He explained that although TOR’s financial performance has improved, its debt burden remains a major obstacle to securing financing for future operations and expansion.
“When your balance sheet is impaired, it’s difficult to raise financing. The Minister of Finance has asked that a comprehensive assessment of all the energy sector agencies be conducted by an audit firm such as PwC. We are seeing a lot of improvements, but your balance sheet is a hindrance,” he said.
According to the Minister, the government is considering measures to isolate debts arising from government-related obligations and remove them from TOR’s books.
“What he wants to do is to look at the debt, particularly arising from the government side, so that we can ring-fence it and take it off your balance sheet and then give you a healthy balance sheet. With a healthy balance sheet, you can go to the market and raise finance,” he added.
The Managing Director of TOR, Edmond Kombat, welcomed the government’s intervention, describing it as critical to sustaining the refinery’s recent financial recovery and improving its competitiveness.
Speaking on the sidelines of the AGM, he said removing the debt burden would significantly enhance TOR’s ability to operate profitably and fulfil its mandate.
“The Minister mentioned that the government is making a decision and a direction to make sure that all those debts are ring-fenced and free us; it will make us a very vibrant and profitable refinery, and it will let us achieve the mandates that the President has given us,” Mr Kombat stated.
The planned debt ring-fencing forms part of the government’s broader efforts to restore confidence in TOR and strengthen its capacity to contribute to Ghana’s downstream petroleum sector.
