TOR Tightens Security As Refinery Operations Resume

Wednesday, October 28, 2026 Login Top StoriesNewsGeneral NewsEducationHealthOpinionsEconomicsEconomyFinanceBankingInsurancePensionSecurities/MarketsBusinessAgribusinessVaultz BusinessExtractives/EnergyReal EstateWorldAfricaAmericaEuropeUKUSAAsiaAround the GlobeInnovationTechnologyWheelsEntertainment20MOBPL2DNewJobs & ScholarshipsJob VacanciesScholarships No Result View All Result Top StoriesNewsGeneral NewsEducationHealthOpinionsEconomicsEconomyFinanceBankingInsurancePensionSecurities/MarketsBusinessAgribusinessVaultz BusinessExtractives/EnergyReal EstateWorldAfricaAmericaEuropeUKUSAAsiaAround the GlobeInnovationTechnologyWheelsEntertainment20MOBPL2DNewJobs & ScholarshipsJob VacanciesScholarships No Result View All Result No Result View All Result in Extractives/Energy, Business TOR Tightens Security As Refinery Operations Resumeby Ivy Opoku Mintah October 28, 2026 Reading Time: 8 mins read Add as Preferred on Google TOR Managing Director, Edmond Kombat

The restoration of crude processing at Tema Oil Refinery has brought a renewed focus on an operational risk that can be less visible than equipment failure or debt: the systems needed to protect petroleum products, monitor activity across the facility and account for materials moving through the refinery.

At the Government Accountability Series on October 26, 2026, TOR Managing Director Edmond Kombat said management had introduced security and logistics measures as part of the effort to restore confidence in the state-owned refinery.

These included installing CCTV systems, improving access control, procuring operational vehicles and staff buses, and working with National Security to address past concerns about theft and product accountability.

The measures suggest that management views the refinery’s recovery as a broader institutional exercise rather than a technical repair programme alone.

Restoring equipment is necessary, but a refinery also requires dependable systems for controlling access, monitoring operations, reconciling inventory and protecting the products and assets entrusted to it.

Kombat said the refinery had lacked some basic support and security systems when the current management took office.

“It was interesting to know that TOR did not have CCTV. We had to install new CCTV to make sure that we beefed up and enhanced the security of the refinery.”

The statement raises a wider governance issue for Ghana’s petroleum sector: the commercial value of a strategic energy asset depends not only on the capacity to process crude, but also on the strength of the controls protecting its operations.

Refineries handle large volumes of valuable petroleum products and operate through interconnected processing, storage and distribution systems.

Their commercial performance depends on the ability to reconcile what enters the facility, what is processed, what is stored and what leaves the premises.

Weak access controls or inadequate monitoring can increase the risk of unauthorised activity, inventory discrepancies and disputes over the handling of products.

Even where no theft occurs, poor record-keeping can make it difficult to identify the source of losses or establish responsibility when differences emerge.

For TOR, the introduction of CCTV and stronger access controls forms part of the infrastructure needed to protect a facility returning to more active operations.

The importance of these systems will increase as crude-processing rates rise and more products move through the refinery. Higher throughput creates more transactions and greater demands on staff responsible for measurement, storage, dispatch and reconciliation.

Security should therefore be treated as an integral part of commercial management. The objective is not simply to install equipment, but to ensure that monitoring systems are operational, access permissions are controlled, incidents are documented and identified weaknesses lead to corrective action.

Management should also be able to demonstrate how these measures are linked to inventory records, internal audits and the procedures governing the movement of petroleum products.

Kombat said management had worked with National Security to address concerns involving theft and product accountability. That disclosure makes inventory management an important part of assessing the refinery’s wider recovery.

Petroleum products move through several stages between crude receipt and final dispatch. Each stage requires accurate measurement, documentation and reconciliation.

If records are incomplete or controls are inconsistent, management can struggle to determine whether discrepancies arise from measurement errors, operational losses, handling problems or unauthorised activity.

A stronger accountability system should make it possible to trace transactions, establish who authorised movements and compare physical inventory with documented balances.

This is especially important where the refinery provides storage or handling services to other petroleum-market participants. Customers need confidence that products are secure, records are accurate and contractual quantities can be verified.

The same controls also protect TOR itself. Reliable inventory information helps management value stock, invoice customers correctly, resolve disputes and identify operational inefficiencies.

The effectiveness of the new security arrangements should consequently be assessed through evidence such as improved inventory reconciliation, documented incident reporting, access-control compliance and the resolution of material discrepancies.

The accountability presentation describes measures taken, but it does not provide detailed performance indicators showing how much product loss or inventory discrepancy has changed since the systems were introduced.

Publishing such information, where operationally appropriate and without compromising security, would help establish whether the reforms are producing measurable results.

The management presentation also highlighted the procurement of operational vehicles and staff buses. These may appear less significant than the rehabilitation of major processing equipment, but the availability of logistics can affect the refinery’s ability to maintain round-the-clock operations.

Refinery work requires staff to reach operational areas, move between facilities and respond to maintenance requirements. Shift-based operations also depend on reliable arrangements for transporting workers, particularly where specialised teams must be available at different times.

Insufficient transport or operational vehicles can delay maintenance, complicate staff movement and undermine coordination during routine work or emergencies.

The provision of these resources is therefore part of the operational support system required to sustain refinery activity. Their value, however, depends on maintenance, effective deployment and controls over their use.

As TOR expands activity and works to restore additional units, management will need to ensure that logistics, personnel and security arrangements develop alongside processing capacity.

Refinery security is closely connected to industrial safety, although the two serve different purposes. Access controls help prevent unauthorised entry and protect assets, while safety systems are designed to reduce the risk of fires, equipment failures, hazardous releases and injuries.

Kombat said the CDU turnaround maintenance programme recorded no fatalities or disabling injuries. He also reported the completion of safety reviews, emergency-response exercises and the renewal of permits, licences and insurance policies required for operations.

These are important elements of a controlled restart. Yet safety performance must be maintained continuously rather than treated as a requirement that has been satisfied once maintenance is completed.

As processing activity increases, the refinery must ensure that operating procedures, emergency preparedness, equipment inspection and contractor supervision remain effective.

Work on additional units creates further interfaces between maintenance teams and live operations, making coordination and risk assessment particularly important.

A stronger reporting framework would track incidents and near misses, maintenance completion, emergency drills, safety training and compliance with operating procedures.

Such information would allow stakeholders to assess whether safety standards are keeping pace with the refinery’s return to service.

Kombat credited collaboration with National Security and other institutions as part of the measures taken to restore confidence in TOR.

Cooperation can be valuable where responsibilities cross organisational boundaries, particularly in security, regulation, product movement and enforcement.

But effective coordination requires clear responsibilities, reliable information-sharing and documented follow-up. It should not become a substitute for internal controls or leave accountability unclear when problems occur.

TOR’s management must retain responsibility for ensuring that its own systems can detect irregularities, preserve records and support corrective action.

External agencies can assist, but a sustainable control environment must be embedded in daily refinery operations.

The next stage is to show that the measures introduced have become standard practice and that management can demonstrate their effectiveness through reliable records and measurable indicators.

TOR’s return to refining creates an opportunity to rebuild not only its processing capability but also the governance systems needed to protect the value of its operations.

CCTV, access controls, transport resources and inventory-accountability procedures are part of that foundation. Their importance will grow as the refinery handles more crude and petroleum products.

The central test is whether the new systems reduce operational vulnerabilities, improve traceability and strengthen confidence among customers, suppliers, regulators and the public.

For a strategic state-owned refinery, operational recovery cannot be separated from asset protection. A plant that processes more crude but cannot reliably account for its products would leave a major part of its commercial recovery unfinished.

TOR’s long-term performance will therefore depend on whether security and accountability reforms become measurable, routine features of a refinery capable of operating reliably and managing public assets responsibly.

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.