By Faridah N Kulumba
Africa-Press – Uganda. The government of Uganda tabled a proposal to partner with Tanzania in building a pipeline that will transfer fuel from Tangaro to Mpigi a district neighbouring Kampala district, a move that was welcomed by the private importers of petroleum products. The new route for the proposed gas pipeline between the two neighbouring countries will form part of the discussions between the two parties when the project’s feasibility study is done, a departure from the earlier suggestion of laying the pipes parallel to the East African Crude Oil pipeline.
Behind the move
The Uganda Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development headed by Minister Ruth Nankabirwa revealed that Uganda and Tanzania agreed to lay the gas pipes closer to communities to ease access to the product. Earlier proposals had suggested that since nearly all the land for the 1,443km East African crude oil pipeline had been acquired, it would only make sense if the gas pipes were laid side by side in the same corridor. The alternative route would relieve the two countries of the tedious process of looking for other pieces of land, the huge financial implications that come with compensation hurdles, and reduce the time to build the gas pipeline. But after much thought, the two states have agreed that finding a new route would make economic sense. “We thought initially that we were going to use the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) space and that it was going to be easy. However, the Tanzanian government rightly changed the course of the route because this gas is a finished product, which is needed; so, it cannot bypass communities along the way,” Nankabirwa told Deep Earth in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the Africa Mining Indaba in Cape Town recently.
Cutting out Kenyan middlemen
The new gas pipeline is also intended to insulate Uganda against uncertainties currently clouding the use of Kenya’s Mobasa-Kisumu pipeline following the country’s switch in import policy in 2023 that sidelined Kenyan middlemen. Uganda has been seeking alternative ways of importing petroleum products, including through a Tanzanian port after its oil retailers for decades received their cargo through affiliated firms in Kenya. In February this year, Uganda’s Energy Ministry revealed that it is in negotiation with Tanzania to import all of its oil products through Dar es Salaam, the negotiations were to put an end to Uganda importing its oil via Kenya’s Mombasa port. Last year the government of Uganda met with over 40 fuel companies under the Sustainable Energies and Petroleum Association (Sepa), to discuss a Cabinet resolution on the importation of refined petroleum and related products. On 21st March this year, authorities in the government of Uganda, shared the news that neighbouring Kenya has given the country’s oil firm the green light to import petroleum products through its port of Mombasa.
Concerns and advantages
Ugandan importers of petroleum products under their umbrella body, the Sustainable Energies and Petroleum Association (SEPA) are optimistic that the alternative gas pipeline would potentially make petroleum cheaper in Uganda, however, they questioned the viability of the multi-billion project in its present form. The importers say that even though the distance from Tanga to Kampala is 1,700km longer than the 1,200km between Mombasa and Kampala, the new route will be cheaper and cost-saving since it will be running directly from Tanzania to Kampala. Transporting petroleum products from Kenya means that it was supposed to move from Mombasa to Kisumu and from there they would use the trucks to carry it for another 400km to Kampala. The Kenyan route through which 90 percent of Uganda’s fuel imports come through, has the disadvantage that the fuel trucks have to be used part of the way. The majority of Ugandan homes still use charcoal, which accounts for most of their energy needs. The use of charcoal has placed pressure on Uganda’s forest cover. Official figures place the loss of 72,000 hectares of forest cover annually on firewood and charcoal. This is equivalent to 100,000 football pitches, according to Uganda’s Energy Transition Plan. Shifting many of these homes to the use of gas is being seen as of paramount importance. It is not the first time that Uganda and Tanzania have discussed plans to build a gas pipeline. Tanzania’s government told Uganda about its interest to sell some of its large quantities of gas to neighbouring countries nearly 10 years ago. Uganda’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development could not tell when the feasibility study for the Tanzania-Uganda gas pipeline would be completed. However, Minister Nankabirwa said that the two countries recently instituted two committees – steering and technical – in Dodoma, Tanzania, and assigned them to start on the feasibility study. The study will inform how much gas needs to be piped to Uganda.
Tanzania-Uganda gas
Tanzania has nearly 50 trillion cubic feet of gas that it is exploring, which is more than enough to power the entire country and supply more to neighbouring countries. In Uganda, Total Energies and Cnooc – the operators of the Tilenga and Kingfisher oil fields respectively– intend to develop gas facilities. Uganda has an estimated 500 billion cubic feet of gas. This gas which is expected to be depleted in just eight years, will be used to mainly power the different project infrastructure such as the central processing facilities, the flowlines and the crude export pipeline to Tanzania, among others. A small amount of this gas will be converted into liquefied petroleum gas for domestic consumption. Uganda’s Energy Transition Plan – a blueprint that will guide Uganda to zero carbon emissions by the year 2065 – which was launched in December 2023 during the COP 28 summit in Dubai, UAE, offering a clearer picture of the complexity of building clean DRI plants.
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