Govt seeking investor to fund oil pipeline deal

The one picked will also manage the pipeline that will be connected the ones in Eldoret, Kenya.

Uganda is searching for an investor to fund and manage its oil pipeline project, the Commissioner for Petroleum supply, Mr Frank Tukwasibwe, has said.
The selection phase—where interested investors are supposed to express interest, is expected to close in the next 48 hours.

According to the Ministry of Energy, the pipeline will connect the existing one in Eldoret, Kenya to ship refined oil products to and from Kampala, Uganda and Eldoret.

And should the-220 mile pipeline be completed within the specified time (about two years), the reliance on fuel trucks shipping oil, will drastically reduce as well as expenditure on transportation cost.

“We are looking for an investor and not a contractor,” Mr Tukwasibwe said in an interview yesterday.
He said some people had already expressed interest and their names would be forwarded to the evaluation team which would ask them to provide their proposals. That process, Mr Tukwasibwe said, would take about four to five months.

Although Energy Minister Irene Muloni said it was too early to estimate the amount of money that the project would cost, it is understood, just like the earlier one (Tamoil project), will cost no more than $300 million.
Before the Tamoil deal was terminated, the Libyan -owned company had promised to invest $300 million in upgrading the Mombasa crude oil refinery and build a $60m liquid petroleum gas storage facility at the coast.

Uganda’s fuel imports are transported through the Mombasa port using tankers. The road transporation method is considered costly and destructive to roads.

iladu@ug.nationmedia.com