Kenya Pipeline: Storage tanks have been refurbished

The Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) storage facilities for the ambitious Kenya Early Oil Pilot Scheme (EOPS) are ready to receive the first bulk of 600 barrels of oil.

The facilities are located at the former Kenya Petroleum Oil Refineries in Changamwe, Mombasa County.

President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday flagged off the consignment from Lokichar, Turkana County for storage at the Mombasa-based facility.

In an interview with The Standard, KPC Managing Director Josia Sang said three fully- refurbished tanks, each with a capacity of 14.3 million litres, would be used to store the oil being trucked for storage as they await early export.

"Work is already complete here and the three tanks have a combined capacity to hold 43 million litres of oil," said Mr Sang.

KPC took over the refinery in 2016, after the exit of Essar Energy of India in 2013, which was jointly running the refinery with the Kenya Government, bolted out and the Government decided to turn the 50-plus years plant into an oil storage facility.

It is expected that the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining will be scouting for market for Kenya’s first ever crude oil export, before chartering a ship to transport the ‘black gold’ commodity to overseas market.

British company Tullow Oil announced the discovery of oil in Kenya in March 2012, when prices were well over $100 (€92) a barrel, close to Lokichar in the country’s arid Turkana region.

Since then, reserves totaling 750 million barrels have been found and there are hopes of more to come. But at the same time, oil prices crashed and have been slow to recover.

Oil experts say Kenya’s oil is good quality - with low sulphur content and good density - but with a wax-like consistency, meaning it must be transported at a high temperature to keep it liquid. This makes the cost of exporting it higher.

Turkana is deep inland, so Kenya’s oil will only be available for export after the construction of a 900 kilometre pipeline to a new port to be constructed at Lamu on the Indian Ocean coast.

The pipe is planned to move around 100,000 barrels daily, but construction is not expected to start until next year.

The initial trucking process is the pilot programme moving a modest 2,000 barrels a day by road.

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