The Managing Director of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), Edmund Kombat, has linked the refinery’s turnaround to efforts to restore the confidence of Bulk Distribution Companies (BDCs), who had stopped storing petroleum products at the facility over concerns about receiving their full quantities.

He said rebuilding the confidence of the BDCs became a key part of his efforts to turn around the loss-making refinery and restore its ability to generate revenue.

Speaking to the media on Tuesday, September 22, Mr Kombat said there was widespread mistrust of TOR’s storage and transfer systems at the time.

“When we came here, there was a lot of despondency. People didn't trust TOR. There was a lot of mistrust for the refinery and the storage because at the time people were bringing petroleum products here, and then it got missing,” he said. “And as a result of that, they stopped bringing petroleum products here.”

Mr Kombat said he personally engaged BDCs, Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs), and companies from neighbouring countries, assuring them that their products would be fully accounted for.

He said the first BDCs that returned to TOR received their products in full, helping to rebuild confidence and creating a surge in demand for storage space.

He said the return of BDCs to TOR subsequently provided the refinery with an important source of revenue through storage charges, product transfers, and rack operations.

Mr Kombat explained that the funds generated were used to address some of TOR’s pressing operational challenges, including turnaround maintenance on the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU).

The management, he added, also used the available funds to settle outstanding obligations to former employees.

“A lot of staff who had retired and needed terminal benefits were not paid, so we had to make sure that all of those people were paid. There were others who resigned and they were not paid. We had to make sure that they were paid,” he said.

He stressed that the turnaround of TOR was still ongoing, with further work expected to sustain the refinery’s recovery.