BUSINESS : BoG gives TOR approval to raise $54m

The Bank of Ghana has given approval to the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) to raise $54 million from local banks to pay for 600,000 barrels of crude oil which have remained on the high seas for the past four weeks.

Until the approval, TOR was finding it difficult to raise letters of credit covering $54 million because of a regulation by the central bank on the Single Obligon Limit (SOL) which restricts one commercial bank from granting loans of more than GH¢16 million to TOR.

With the approval, the Nippon Princess vessel carrying the consignment can now dock at the single point mooring (SPM) facility at the Tema Port for onward delivery to TOR.

The source said pumping of the product to TOR’s reservoirs was expected to begin by today, following a successful establishment of the LCs by the bank.

The consignment is expected to last for three weeks.

The unavailability of crude oil for production over the past weeks compelled management to shut down the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) plant last week, four weeks after an earlier shutdown of the Residual Fluid Catalytic Cracker (RFCC) on June 30, this year.

The latest shutdown of the two plants was the third in a series of shutdowns undertaken by the refinery management this year.

GNA