• Tullow Opens Domestic Market for Jubilee and TEN Crude as Ghana Pushes Local Refining

First commercial sale to Sentuo strengthens the link between Ghana’s oilfields and refineries, but reliable financing, competitive processing and sustained crude production will determine whether the model can be scaled.

Tullow Oil has begun selling crude from Ghana’s Jubilee and TEN fields to domestic refineries, opening a potentially important local market as the country seeks to retain more value from its petroleum production and reduce its dependence on imported fuel.

The London-listed producer completed its first commercial crude sale to Sentuo Oil Refinery earlier in 2026, according to Richard Miller, Tullow’s chief financial officer.

“This is a fantastic achievement looking at what has happened in Ghana’s oil sector over the years,” Mr Miller said during a virtual engagement with investors following the release of the company’s half-year results.

The transaction marks a shift in the structure of Ghana’s oil industry. Since commercial production began in 2010, most crude from the country’s offshore fields has been exported, while Ghana has continued importing substantial volumes of petrol, diesel, aviation fuel and liquefied petroleum gas.

Selling locally creates a more direct connection between Ghana’s upstream production and its downstream refining industry. But the economic benefit will depend on whether domestic refineries can process the crude efficiently, secure reliable working capital and compete with imported finished products.

Tullow emphasised that the Sentuo transaction was conducted on commercial terms rather than through an administrative crude allocation.

“Sentuo Oil has become one of the prolific buyers of crude not only from Tullow Oil alone but also from other partners on Ghana’s oil fields,” Mr Miller said.

The first cargo involved approximately 1mn barrels of Jubilee crude delivered to Sentuo’s refinery in Tema. The facility currently has processing capacity of about 40,000 barrels per stream day, with plans to expand capacity as Ghana attempts to build a larger domestic refining base.

The transaction potentially gives Tullow and its partners another outlet for their crude while providing Sentuo with feedstock located considerably closer than alternative international suppliers.

For the refinery, however, proximity alone does not guarantee favourable economics. Ghanaian crude is still priced against international benchmarks, meaning local refiners must arrange financing and pay commercially competitive prices.

Domestic crude is not necessarily cheaper crude.

The potential foreign-exchange benefit comes instead from reducing freight, insurance and trading costs associated with importing finished petroleum products, while retaining refining margins and related economic activity within Ghana. The scale of those benefits will depend on refinery efficiency, product yields, financing costs and the payment structure agreed with suppliers.

The transaction supports the government’s strategy of expanding domestic petroleum processing through Sentuo and the state-owned Tema Oil Refinery.

Energy Minister John Abdulai Jinapor has argued that local crude processing should form part of a broader industrialisation and energy-security programme.

“This achievement goes beyond a commercial transaction,” Mr Jinapor said following the delivery to Sentuo. “It represents a deliberate national policy decision to deepen local value addition, strengthen energy security, promote industrialisation and retain a greater share of the benefits derived from Ghana’s petroleum resources within our economy.”

TOR has also resumed refining activity after rehabilitation work on its crude distillation unit and the receipt of locally produced crude.

If both facilities operate consistently, the government believes they could eventually meet a substantial proportion of Ghana’s refined-product requirements. That would shorten the petroleum supply chain and provide some insulation from disruptions in international refined-product markets.

But it will not eliminate Ghana’s exposure to global oil prices. Crude supplied to domestic refineries will still reflect international market conditions, while the cedi’s exchange rate will continue to influence refinery financing and retail fuel prices.

The local sales initiative comes as Tullow remains heavily dependent on Ghana for production and cash generation.

The company expects 14 crude cargoes from its Ghana operations in 2026, comprising 11 from Jubilee and three from TEN. That includes two additional Jubilee cargoes compared with guidance issued in November 2025. Six cargoes were lifted during the first half, leaving eight expected during the second half.

Tullow’s Ghana production has performed toward the upper end of expectations, with the company raising its 2026 free-cash-flow forecast to between US$170m and US$250m. Production was forecast near the upper end of its 34,000 to 42,000 barrels-of-oil-equivalent-a-day range.

For Tullow, a dependable domestic customer could diversify its offtake arrangements and reduce some of the logistical distance between production and sale. The value of that market, however, will depend on whether domestic buyers can pay promptly and secure credit on sustainable terms.

Tullow has indicated that mechanisms are being developed to provide a favourable financing package for local crude purchases. That may prove critical because refineries require substantial working capital to buy cargoes that can be worth tens of millions of dollars.

Ghana’s ambition to increase domestic refining is unfolding against a more difficult upstream backdrop.

Crude production has declined from its earlier peaks as output from mature fields has fallen and new developments have been limited. This creates a potential tension between the government’s refining ambitions and the availability of dependable local feedstock.

Every barrel sold domestically is also a barrel that cannot be exported. The policy case therefore rests not simply on replacing exports with local sales, but on demonstrating that domestic processing creates more value through refining margins, employment, taxes, logistics and improved fuel security.

A sustained domestic supply programme will consequently require investment in Jubilee, TEN and other fields to stabilise or increase production.

The local refining strategy must also avoid replacing import dependence with refinery dependence. Operational interruptions, weak maintenance, payment arrears or subsidised pricing could undermine the commercial discipline required to sustain crude deliveries.

Tullow’s first sale to Sentuo is therefore best viewed as a test rather than a completed transformation.

If the transaction can be repeated under transparent commercial terms, supported by reliable refinery operations and timely payment, Ghana could begin building a more integrated petroleum value chain. If those conditions are not maintained, local crude deliveries may remain occasional cargoes rather than the foundation of a durable refining industry.

The significance of the first sale lies in that possibility: Ghanaian crude is no longer only leaving the country for foreign refineries. It is beginning to find a commercial market at home.