Kenya Pipeline invites bids for Kisumu oil jetty

Kenya Pipeline Company storage tanks {Photo Courtesy}

Kenya Pipeline has invited bids to build an oil jetty on Lake Victoria as it seeks to improve flow of petroleum products in the areas around the lake including to the neighbouring countries. The jetty, which is a facility that enables ship tankers to load and offload petroleum products, is projected to cost about Sh1.5 billion.

KPC advertised for tenders yesterday, inviting firms to bid for the construction of the jetty set to commence in Mach this year. The construction is expected to take six months and the bids will bring clarity to designs, capacity and haulage of the pier to load and safely transport fuel across the lake using properly certified barges and ships.

The jetty is expected to boost throughput in Kisumu by 1 million litres a year in phase 1 and up to 3 million litres per year by 2028. “The target market is around the lake and expanding the export market into Uganda and mines in northern Tanzania. The jetty will also create integrated marine fuel transportation in the region making it more efficient and commercially viable and reduce transportation costs for the oil marketing companies,” KPC’s Managing Director Joe Sang said.

Sufficient supplies

The firm says it anticipates to have the oil jetty by August this year to clear petroleum products through Lake Victoria as stocks pile up. The Pipeline company operationalised an oil pipeline in April 2016 which has increased capacity at its Kisumu depot from 10 per cent to 90 per cent helping eliminate shortages in the Western region and stocking sufficient supplies to the region and to the neighbouring countries.

The full tank capacity for the port town is 39 million litres and is currently holding 35.1 million litres as operational storage as oil marketers clear the stock. The jetty built into the lake will allow easy berthing to evacuate the oil faster and efficiently as supplies flow in, and boost transportation to the neighbouring countries to help clear the pipeline.

“Construction of the jetty is now commercially feasible following completion of Line 6 which has increased product flow to Kisumu depot by 350,000 litres per hour from the previous 110,000 litres per hour,” said Sang.

The annual demand for petroleum products in Western Kenya is 1.1 billion litres whereas the regional demand stands at 3.3 billion litres. Construction of the Sinendet-Kisumu Pipeline (Line 6) has boosted supplies to the Western Kenya region and the export market of Uganda, Eastern DRC, Rwanda, Burundi, and Northern Tanzania. Coupled with the jetty, the pipeline will remove oil trucks from the road reducing the risk of accidents, spillage and costs. Mr Sang said the new Sh5.7 billion 122km 10-inch diameter pipeline parallel to an existing 6-inch diameter will turn Kisumu into a focal point of oil and gas commerce in the region.

KPC is currently undertaking a number of large-scale energy infrastructure projects aimed at tapping growth opportunities in the regional oil & gas sector. The company is currently constructing the Mombasa-Nairobi Pipeline replacement Project (Line 5) which is scheduled to be completed this year.