According to Bloomberg, "Russian Oil to be hidden in Ghana as a pool of customers shrinks," the Institute for Energy Security (IES) has taken note of a shipment of around 600,000 barrels of crude oil that landed at the Tema port on Friday, February 26, 2023, onboard the vessel MT Theseus.
According to documents seized by the IES, the importer, Planton Gas Oil Ghana Ltd, designated the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) as the facility for the discharge and sought a crude oil storage capacity of around 80,000 metric tonnes (MT), or 600,000 barrels, from it.
The IES can attest that the aforementioned vessel is now anchored at the Tema port and has given the importer notice of readiness (NORtoto dock at either the Single Point Mooring (SPM) system or the Tema Oil Jetty for subsequent discharge into a storage tank (s).
The Institute can further attest that designated Inspectors and Agents, with the assistance of workers at the TOR plant, took samples of the crude for laboratory testing.
The tanker is free of any interceptions, according to the IES, and is simply awaiting permission from the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) to berth and begin dumping crude oil into TOR's tanks.
This worries the IES since only a few days prior, the downstream petroleum sector's regulator, NPA, had made it clear that should the MT. Tedeus crude oil vessel in issue enter Ghanaian waters, the cargo would be intercepted. The ship MT. Theseus, on the other hand, is free to sail, getting assistance from state actors, and is most likely to discharge into a national oil facility.
More concerning is the fact that, for a quantity of 80,000 MT crude cargo, Platon Gas Oil Ghana Ltd's processing and distribution capability is quite limited. According to the IES, Platon could only process and distribute 2,849 MT of residual fuel oil (RFO) and gasoline between January and December 2022, which is just 3.6% of the total amount of crude oil shipment being discussed. This raises questions, and the IES is tempted to believe that Platon Gas Oil Ltd., the listed receiver of the oil shipment, is just a facade.
The Tema Oil Refinery would begin full operation by the end of February 2023, the Deputy Minister of Energy Andrew Egyapa Had previously assured Ghanaians in late December 2022. Could the petroleum cargo carried by MT. Theseus be the first shipment of crude for TOR to resume full operations following a two-year hiatus? Could the government's Gold for Oil Program be expanded to include this shipment of crude oil?
The IES urges the government to speak up and address concerns over the arrival in order to allay Ghanaians' concerns and those of industry observers.
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