A super jumbo tanker carrying 997,000 barrels of crude oil to be discharged to the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) arrived in Ghanaian waters from Nigeria on Sunday evening. The long-awaited crude oil was supplied by the Sahara Oil Company Limited of Nigeria, to enable TOR to resume work.
The amount is said to be the largest delivery TOR had ever received since it started operations 46 years ago. Since the beginning of the year, TOR has not been able to perform its statutory duties, due to unavailability of crude oil to the nation's oil refinery.
The oil came in after President John Evans Atta Mills assurance to workers during a working visit to TOR less than a week ago, that government would ensure the supply of crude oil, to enable the Refinery to resume operations. Officials at the Refinery confirmed the arrival of the tanker and indicated that samples of the oil have been taken by the Quality Control Unit of TOR for analysis, to ensure that it fits into the country's specifications.
Mr. Bernard Entsiwah, Chairman of the Senior Staff Association of TOR, expressed workers' happiness on the new development, when he spoke with the Ghana News Agency in Tema, but added, however, that even though workers had heard of the arrival of the crude oil, they were yet to see it running through their machines.
Mr Entsiwah said they would be extremely happy if the delivery would be on sustainable basis.
