Page 6 - AfrOil Week 49 2021

AfrOil PIPELINES & TRANSPORT AfrOil

The Port of Mombasa imports oil and fuel via the Kipevu and Shimazi terminals (Photo: Twitter/@Kenya_Ports)

New fuel terminal at Mombasa to

start operating in January 2022

KENYA KENYA’S new $385mn bulk crude oil and gasoline and LPG for import and export. The
refined petroleum products handling facility facility has both subsea and land-based pipelines
at Mombasa seaport is set to commence oper- connecting it to KPC’s storage tanks at Kipevu.
ations in January 2022. “KOT is a game-changer, as it will reduce
Building work of the Kipevu Oil Terminal [the] demurrage fees Kenya pays for delays
(KOT) is 96% complete, and China Communi- in off-loading vessels,” KPA acting managing
cations Construction Co. (CCCC) is set to hand director John Mwangemi said.
over facility to Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) Kenya pays about $100,000 daily as demur-
before the end of December. rage fees to tanker owners due to delays in off-
The facility will handle large quantities of loading as result of inadequate storage space at
imported refined petroleum products for Ken- KPC’s Kipevu Oil Storage Facility (KOSF) depot
ya’s domestic use, as well as for export to Uganda, in Mombasa.
Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, northern Tan- Kenya relies on the single-jetty KOT facil-
zania and the eastern Democratic Republic of ity and the single-jetty Shimanzi Oil Termi-
Congo (DRC). nal (SOT) to off-load tankers. KOT, which is
KPA said it will conduct dry test runs of the 50 years old, can handle tankers for crude oil
KOT this month before handling over the facil- and refined fuels of up to 80,000 tonnes. SOT
ity to state-owned Kenya Pipeline Co. (KPC), can handle refined fuel tankers of up to 30,000
which is mandated to pump refined fuels inland tonnes.
and offer bulk storage. KPC plans to buy storage tanks from Kenya
“The new terminal will handle four tankers Petroleum Refineries Ltd (KPRL) at Changa-
(vessels) simultaneously and have a liquefied mwe in Mombasa to increase its capacity to
petroleum gas (LPG) line to increase commod- handle imports. The deal is expected to be com-
ity’s supply,” KPA head of corporate affairs Ber- pleted in the next three months.
nard Osero said in telephone interview. “KPC has signed [a] lease agreement to use
After conducting the dry test run, KPA will the refiner’s facilities, but the plan is to acquire
hand over the terminal to KPC to manage the KPRL to be part of the state corporation,” KPC
daily operations of the facility, whose construc- infrastructure development general manager
tion started in February 2019. The completion David Muriuki said.
date of August 2021 was delayed due to the He added that KPC planned to invest in a
COVID-19 pandemic. bulk storage facility and dedicated pipeline for
The terminal will accommodate vessels of LPG linked to the new KOT facility. The tender
up to 200,000 DWT, handle crude oil, heavy for building the bulk LPG depot is expected to
residual fuel oil, dual purpose kerosene, diesel, be ready in the first quarter of 2022. ™

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 49 08•December•2021