EAC plans for Uganda oil
May 12, 2011
NAIROBI-The East African Community trade bloc plans to build an oil pipeline linking its two newest members -- Rwanda and Burundi -- with Uganda to boost their energy security, Kenya’s top energy ministry official said.
NAIROBI-The East African Community trade bloc plans to build an oil pipeline linking its two newest members -- Rwanda and Burundi -- with Uganda to boost their energy security, Kenya’s top energy ministry official said.
Energy Ministry Permanent Secretary Patrick Nyoike said in a statement the EAC had obtained a $600,000 grant from the African Development Bank to finance a feasibility study on the proposed pipeline between Kigali and Bujumbura.
Uganda discovered commercial hydrocarbon deposits in the Albertine rift basin along the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2006, which the government estimates at two billion barrels but says could be much higher.
Uganda has said it will construct a refinery as a public-private project to process its crude and will need about $2b to finance the facility.
“The plan is to link Kigali by a pipeline from Kampala, which will allow petroleum products to be accessed from the planned refinery in Kampala as well as the existing refinery in Mombasa and international markets,†Nyoike said.The planned pipeline between Kampala and Kigali would then be extended to the Burundian capital, Bujumbura.
Development will be phased, and a feasibility study recommended a plan to start with modest refining capacity of 20,000 barrels per day, rising to 150,000 barrels over a six-year period.
Tullow Oil, the lead explorer in the region, said in January it anticipated the start of commercial petroleum production early next year, pushing back its original target of the last quarter in 2010.
Nyoike said members of the EAC would also expedite the development of natural gas reserves in Tanzania to spread their energy risks.
Reuters
Energy Ministry Permanent Secretary Patrick Nyoike said in a statement the EAC had obtained a $600,000 grant from the African Development Bank to finance a feasibility study on the proposed pipeline between Kigali and Bujumbura.
Uganda discovered commercial hydrocarbon deposits in the Albertine rift basin along the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2006, which the government estimates at two billion barrels but says could be much higher.
Uganda has said it will construct a refinery as a public-private project to process its crude and will need about $2b to finance the facility.
“The plan is to link Kigali by a pipeline from Kampala, which will allow petroleum products to be accessed from the planned refinery in Kampala as well as the existing refinery in Mombasa and international markets,†Nyoike said.The planned pipeline between Kampala and Kigali would then be extended to the Burundian capital, Bujumbura.
Development will be phased, and a feasibility study recommended a plan to start with modest refining capacity of 20,000 barrels per day, rising to 150,000 barrels over a six-year period.
Tullow Oil, the lead explorer in the region, said in January it anticipated the start of commercial petroleum production early next year, pushing back its original target of the last quarter in 2010.
Nyoike said members of the EAC would also expedite the development of natural gas reserves in Tanzania to spread their energy risks.
Reuters