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DMEA PIPELINES DMEA

Uganda, Tanzania to review

EACOP licence application

AFRICA THE governments of Tanzanian and Uganda many things, which we all must carefully look
have initiated a review of the application for a at,” he said. The project will involve “[issues] of
construction licence that the East Africa Crude disturbance, environment, land, compensation
Oil Pipeline (EACOP) company submitted to the and so on, so we must carefully look at each to
policy arm of Uganda’s Ministry of Energy last ensure it is in compliance with the laws,” he was
week, according to a report from the Monitor. quoted as saying.
Honey Malinga, the acting director of Ugan- Phillips did not say when the review might be
da’s Directorate of Petroleum, told the daily in an completed, explaining that the timeline for the
exclusive interview that the EACOP group had process would need to be drawn up in consulta-
applied for the licence as a necessary prerequi- tion with the government agencies involved. The
site to beginning construction on the link, which Monitor noted, however, that Uganda expects to
will be the world’s longest heated oil pipeline. The start commercial production at the oilfields that
application must be reviewed in consultation will fill the EACOP link in 2025.
with the relevant state agencies before a licence The EACOP project will be carried out by
can be issued, he explained. the French major TotalEnergies, China National
Martin Tiffen, EACOP’s general manager in Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), Uganda National
Uganda, submitted the application in line with Oil Co. (UNOC) and Tanzania Petroleum
the requirements of Ugandan legislation cov- Development Corp. (TPDC). The partners will
ering midstream operations in the oil industry, build a 1,443-km, 24-inch (610-mm) pipeline
including the Petroleum (Refining, Conversion, from Hoima in Uganda’s western Kabale district
Transmission and Midstream Storage) Act and to the Chongoleani peninsula near the port of
the Petroleum (Exploration, Development and Tanga in Tanzania. The link will have a through-
Production) Act, he added. put capacity of 216,000 barrels per day (bpd) and
“The pipeline construction touches on so may cost up to $5bn to build.™

Zambia starts work on Tanzania diesel pipe

AFRICA ZAMBIA has begun construction of a 700-km Kapala, the new pipeline will be modern.
pipeline that will bring diesel into the country Additionally, he said, the link help the coun-
from Tanzania, Energy Minister Peter Kampala try achieve its long-term goal of stabilising diesel
said in a radio interview on July 3. supplies and maintaining favourable retail pump
The pipeline will run parallel to the existing prices.
1,700-km Tazama pipeline, which pumps crude In 2019, the two countries announced a plan
oil from the Tanzanian coast to the Indeni refin- to construct a $1.5bn fuel pipeline to comple-
ery in central Zambia, he said. The initial invest- ment Tazama. Talks on the project resumed after
ment in the project will amount to $300mn, he the current government, in which Kampala is a
said. “In a few months’ time, the pipeline will minister, came into office in August 2021.
start pumping diesel fuel into Zambia. Phase Zambia is also exploring other fuel supply
one of the pipeline will end in Mpika (District options. In April 2021, the country’s government
in northern Zambia), phase two in Ndola (in inked a $5bn agreement with Angola on the con-
Copperbelt Province) and phase three in Solwezi struction of a 100,000-120,000 bpd pipeline for
(in northwestern Zambia),” Kapala told the live refined petroleum products. The Zambian Busi-
radio broadcast. ness Times reported in August of that year that
Zambia owns 66.7% of Tazama, which has the parties hoped to begin a feasibility study in
a throughput capacity of 22,000 barrels per day September 2021.
(bpd) of oil, while Tanzania holds the remaining Then in May 2022, Kampala announced that
33.3%. Zambia intended to sign a deal with Namibia, its
The oil pipeline, which was commissioned in neighbour to the west, to build yet another fuel
1968, is inefficient and ageing. By contrast, said pipeline.™

Week 27 07•July•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P11