The slow development of the Ugandan oil jetty has rendered the Kisumu oil Jetty in Kenya idle. This has been confirmed by Kenyan state agency that visited the neighbouring country to assess the progress of the jetty.
The US $ 18 million Kisumu Oil Jetty will now have to wait until later this year to be operational, extending the long wait for utilization of the facility completed in February 2018.
The Ugandan oil jetty was intended to receive fuel delivered by tankers from Kenya.
Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) team that visited Uganda in March reported poor progress on the other side pushing the completion timelines further into 2021. The facility was expected to start operations in January next year but timelines have been changing since 2013.
KPC Managing Director, Irungu Macharia, said the operation of the Kisumu facility is pegged on the in completion of complementary facilities in Uganda.
The Ugandan facility is a Fuel Storage and Transport System being undertaken by Mahathi Infra Uganda Limited, an Engineering, Procurement & Construction (EPC) Company established for execution of projects, primarily in Oil and Gas sector.
READ:Uganda’s multi-billion Fuel Storage and Transport System nears completion
The facility is a 14-tank storage project aimed at storing up to 70 million litres of fuel with a 220 meters long jetty estimated to deliver fuel in 16 hours at a speed of 10 nautical miles.
It will be one of the largest fuel terminals in East and Central Africa upon completion. With a 10 nautical miles speed, the at Bugiri-Bukasa.
Uganda is developing two facilities one in Jinja overseen by the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) and another at Bukasa Inland Port undertaken by Mahathi Infra Services.
Kenya is eyeing a larger market in East Africa with the revival of the Kisumu Oil Jetty which is expected to deliver petroleum products to neighbouring Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Eastern DRC and parts of Tanzania.
Kenyan authorities are now hoping Uganda will fast track completion of the projects to create an efficient and commercially viable integrated marine fuel transportation system for the region.