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AfrOil PIPELINES & TRANSPORT AfrOil

Zambia says conversion of Tazama

oil pipeline will be complete in June

TANZANIA/ZAMBIA ZAMBIA expects to have completed the pro- result, officials in Lusaka have taken the decision
cess of converting its sole crude oil pipeline to to halt refining at the Indeni plant before the end
be able to move refined petroleum products by of 2022.
June 2022, a minister has told parliament. Zambia delivers most of the fuel that the
The 1,710km pipe that was built in 1968, refinery turns out to copper and cobalt mines
runs from the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam near its northern border with the Democratic
to Zambia’s copper-mining region. For 954 km, Republic of Congo, Africa’s top producer of both
the pipeline has a diameter of 200 mm, and for minerals.
the remaining 798 km, a diameter of 300 mm. Copper output in Zambia fell by 5% to
In June 2020 Tazama, 66.7% owned by Zam- about 800,000 tonnes last year, while cobalt
bia and 33.3% by Tanzania, was on the market production declined as well by 22% to around
seeking $400mn for its upgrade. Its Tanzania 247 tonnes, according to the Zambia Statistics
regional manager, Albert Saunyama, was quoted Agency (Zamstats).
by Tanzania Invest as saying at that time that the According to Dow Jones Newswires,
difference in the pipeline’s diameter limits its Musokotwane also noted that high fuel prices
pumping capacity but that the upgrade would will pose challenges to Zambia’s ability to meet
increase its capacity. growth targets this year, despite the recovery
Dow Jones Newswires, citing a speech from registered in 2021, after a contraction of 2.8% in
Zambia Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokot- 2020. ™
wane on Thursday (April 7), reported that the
conversion of the Tazama crude oil pipeline will
help the landlocked country ease fuel shortage
and reduce its price.
“This [the conversion] will reduce the trans-
port cost of fuel,” Musokotwane said. “The inter-
national oil prices have had an adverse effect on
the pump prices of petroleum globally and Zam-
bia has not been spared.”
The Tazama pipeline moves 40,000 barrels
per day (bpd) of crude for refining at Indeni
Petroleum Refinery in Ndola in the Copperbelt
Province.
However, Dow Jones Newswires noted, both
the pipeline and the refinery are operating below
capacity, owing to inadequate maintenance and
investment programmes. This has disrupted fuel
supplies across Zambia, which is Africa’s sec-
ond-largest producer of copper and cobalt. As a The pipeline runs from Dar Es Salaam to the Indeni oil refinery (Image: Tazama)

INVESTMENT
SAMIR group pushes for government help

MOROCCO A Moroccan support group has called on the investors wishing to invest, stop negative neu-
government to take an active role in supporting trality and move to positive intervention”.
the country’s downstream industry following Refining Societe Anonyme Marocaine de
the shutdown of its only refinery in 2015. l’Industrie du Raffinage (SAMIR), a Moroc-
The National Front for the Salvation of the can company specialising in the production
Moroccan Petroleum Refinery has asked Rabat of refined petroleum-based fuels, operated a
to clarify its policy regarding the future of refin- 200,000 barrel per day (bpd) facility at Moham-
ing in Morocco, suggesting it should “encourage media until its closure.

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 15 13•April•2022