Plans to acquire second jetty move a notch higher

By Macharia Kamau

The Government has contracted a Spanish firm to undertake a feasibility study on modalities of setting up the second petroleum offloading jetty in Mombasa.

The new terminal is expected to eliminate supply inefficiencies dogging the industry, which have been named among the key contributors of the woes that face the sector.

The Spanish firm is expected to commence the study this month, and complete it by the end of this year at a cost of Sh100 million.

The study seeks to establish the viability and cost of setting up the jetty, as well as inform the engineering, design and construction of the jetty. Preliminary estimates by National Oil Company Kenya (NOCK) have projected that construction of the jetty will cost Sh8 billion ($100 million).

The Spanish company, whose identity is still being kept under wraps, beat nine other firms that had been short-listed. Twenty companies had submitted their expressions of interest to undertake the feasibility study. The companies that expressed interest to undertake the study were from South Africa, Singapore, Spain, Denmark, Indonesia, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia, Iran, India, Netherlands, and the UK.

 “We awarded the tender for feasibility study last week, and expect the exercise to be complete in the next six months. And then we can move forward with the construction... once in place the jetty will help ease flow of petroleum products into the country,” said Summaya Athmani, the NOCK managing director.

She also said the company would award the tender for feasibility study of the strategic petroleum reserves in the next one month

Once in place, the strategic reserves are expected to hold 90-day petroleum stocks that are meant cushion the country from uncertainties in global oil market, as well as an inadequate supply channel that result in frequent and unexpected oil outages.

Athmani said the marketer expected to finance the two projects through public private partnership, noting they would attract private sector financing.

The second jetty to be constructed in Mombasa will seek to tackle capacity constraints facing the nation’s petroleum supply channel by enabling larger ships offload petroleum products faster.

The facility is expected to ease the pressure on the Kipevu oil terminal , which is currently the sole point of discharge for oil importers.

Athmani was speaking when NOCK launched National Oil Supacard.

The card, which is targeted at firms running vehicle fleets, enables users to manage fuel consumption by their vehicles. It is available in prepaid and post-paid options.

Athmani said the card had unique features, including online access to statements and a radio frequency identification tag, which ensures use is by selected people, and only refills select vehicles. Fleet owners can also tell the particulars of card usage, including the geographical location, as well as enable users top up remotely.