Prime
New plan to eliminate use of trucks from fuel transportation
It is estimated that 180 fuel trucks enter Uganda every day. Photo / File
What you need to know:
- Government is pursuing pipeline infrastructure deals with Kenya and Tanzania through which much of the petroleum products currently transported by road, will be moved
Energy Minister Ruth Nankabirwa has said Uganda is negotiating with the two governments of Kenya and Tanzania to develop pipelines as part of a plan in which transportation of petroleum products by road will be eliminated.
The plan also seeks to develop reverse pipelines through which Uganda’s refined oil products will, according to Ms Nankabirwa, be marketed and supplied to other parts of East Africa, including Kenya, northern Tanzania, and DR Congo.
Speaking in an interview in Kampala yesterday, Ms Nankabirwa told Monitor that the pipelines, once realised, will be key in reducing “the wearing away of our road infrastructure but also reduce carbon emissions”.
“We want to reduce the wearing of our road infrastructure and carbon emissions. Where you use 100 trucks, petroleum products will be moving through pipelines, which means trucks will not be on the road,” she said but did not indicate when the plan is expected to be achieved.
It is estimated that at least 180 trucks transporting about 6.5 million litres of petroleum products enter Uganda every day.
The move will also seek to make the price of fuel competitive, which is why, Ms Nankabirwa said, government had to push for Uganda National Oil Company to be the sole fuel importer.
She further indicated that government was in advanced stages of securing the Tanzanian route, in addition to negotiations to develop the Kampala-Eldoret pipeline, which in future, could be used as a reserve pipeline to export Uganda’s petroleum products to other parts of East Africa.
“We are planning to develop the Kampala-Eldoret pipeline because we think at one time it can be a reverse pipeline taking our petroleum products from our refinery to Eldoret. We are also working out with the Tanzanian government on the Tanzania route so that we have a continuous supply of petroleum products. The Tanzania route is very critical and we are in discussions with the Tanzanian government to realise it,” she said.
Uganda and Kenya have already started talks over extension of a petroleum products pipeline from Eldoret to Kampala, a project whose delivery has stalled for close to 30 years.
Last week Ms Nankabirwa met Kenyan energy officials led by petroleum principal secretary Mohammed Liban and Kenya Pipeline Company to revive talks on a project whose construction was first discussed in 1995.
In 2006 there was an attempt to launch it when the contract was awarded to a Libyan contractor, Tamoil East Africa, but this collapsed.
The pipeline will be key in reducing the cost of fuel with Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) Managing Director Joe Sang indicating that they are “open and willing to collaborate with the Ugandan government to lay the Eldoret - Malaba pipeline”.
“Extension of the pipeline to Uganda is a strategic move for Kenya as we seek to regain our competitive advantage in the petroleum export market, particularly in light of Uganda’s new importation strategy,” he said.
Pipeline plans revived
The Kampala-Eldoret project will entail construction of a multi-product oil pipeline from Eldoret to Malaba (Kenya-Uganda border) on Kenya’s part, after which Uganda will build a connecting line to Kampala. The pipeline can then be extended up to Kigali in Rwanda.
Ms Nankabirwa says her visit to Kenya included planning and preparation for the start of the project, whose financing details remain undisclosed.
Plans for extension of the pipeline were revived in May when President William Ruto hosted President Museveni in a meeting in which the two agreed to form a joint committee to oversee quality control and mobilise resources, with progress reports expected by the end of this year.
Uganda currently trucks fuel from Eldoret.
