Kenyan oil pipeline nears completion to bolster regional distribution

10 Novembre 2017

Nairobi, Kenya, November 10 (Infosplusgabon) - Kenya is set to complete the construction of a new oil pipeline running from the port city of Mombasa to Nairobi by next month, the office of the President, said Friday.

President Uhuru Kenyatta discussed the progress in the construction of the pipeline during a meeting with his Energy minister Charles Keter, according to a report released by the Presidential Strategic Communications Unit (PSCU).

The President also held talks with the energy industry managers and representatives of the public sector as part of efforts to improve service delivery.

Keter told the President that the new 20-inch 450-km oil pipeline from Mombasa to Nairobi was 97% complete. He said the project could be commissioned next month.

"The pipeline will ease traffic on the Mombasa-Nairobi road, as well as significantly improve supplies and stability in Nairobi and Kisumu and their environs. This will have a great impact. It will ease congestion on Mombasa-Nairobi highway and ensure we have very stable petroleum cover,” Keter said.

Kenyan government officials anticipate improved oil transport infrastructure development will  ease movement of oil from Mombasa to the entire Great Lakes region.

Kenya exports petroleum products to Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda. The three countries mostly obtain their oil supplies from Mombasa by trucks due to the low pumping capacity of the pipeline.

The new line will replace the current 38-year-old line, which has the capacity to pump 440,000 litres an hour on its 14" diameter.

The new line would have capacity to pump at least 1 million litres per hour, which would replace nearly 700 trucks off the highway.

Keter also said plans to roll out low-cost liquid petroleum gas (LPG) were at a very advanced stage.

This will also increase penetration of alternative forms of energy to charcoal and kerosene which government wants to phase out in the long term.

President Kenyatta was also briefed on the work on infrastructure around the oil fields in the northern Turkana area, including road repairs and the fixing of the damaged Kainuk bridge.

Heavy rains pounding the East African country has made roads around Turkana largely impassable.

FIN/INFOSPLUSGABON/TRF/ GABON 2017

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