Africa-Press – Tanzania. TANZANIA is set to become a regional crude oil hub, if the plan of constructing a state-of-the-art refinery is anything to go by.
According to Energy Minister January Makamba, the facility will be constructed in the country’s commercial capital, Dar es Salaam.
The plan, he said, will see other East African Community (EAC) partner states flock into the country to procure oil.
“We’ve already consulted our partners and they will visit Tanzania and see how such a project can be put in place,” revealed Mr Makamba here at the weekend.
Mr Makamba further pointed out that the government will engage experts from oil-rich countries in implementing such a project.
Once it comes to fruition, the facility will create job opportunities, address the oil crisis in the region and ultimately guarantee security of supply and stability of prices.
The facility will be run and managed by the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC), a National Oil Company.
Currently, all six EAC partner states are dependent on imported fossil fuels from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
The regional economic bloc’s limited infrastructure in terms of refineries, pipelines and storage facilities is said to be a constraint to stability in fuel prices.
The government also reviewed the levy on the use of port infrastructure (wharfage) charged at 10 US dollars per metric tonne plus Value Added tax.
The levy will now be charged in Tanzania shillings and was reduced to 15/- from 22/- with no VAT.
Such changes have seen consumers part ways with 2,439, 2, 261 and 2,188/- for a litre of petrol, diesel and kerosene, respectively.
In Kenya, gasoline retails at Ksh 131.640 per liter, which is equivalent to 1.184 US dollars, while Ugandans pay 4,230.000 (1.186 US dollars) for a litre of petrol.
In Rwanda, petrol retails at 1.143 US dollars, while in Burundi it is sold at 2,440 Franc.
On Sunday, the government of Tanzania announced plans of mandating TPDC to start procuring oil directly from the energy’s-top producing countries.
The move by the TPDC is set to address oil and gas shortages and regulate oil prices in Tanzania.
“TPDC had recently won a tender of procuring oil directly from the exporters’ refineries every month, a move which will greatly reduce its price and shortages,” said Mr Makamba.
Without disclosing its name, Mr Makamba said a company had sold to the government premium oil at 30 US dollars (about 69,000/-) per barrel, when the global price stood at 168,000/- a barrel.
However, following the tender that was secured by TPDC in September this year, the national oil company purchased the same barrel at a mere 20 US dollars (about 46,100/-).
“You can see the benefits of engaging the national company in procuring bulk oil directly from the exporters,” maintained the minister.
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