•KPA is keen to relocate the current 50-year old Kipevu Oil Terminal to a new site opposite the current container terminal.
•The new terminal will have the capacity to handle four vessels of up to 100,000 Dead Weight Tonnage and will have an LPG line.
Image: COURTESY
Construction of the Sh39 billion new Kipevu Oil Terminal(KOT) is 40 per cent done, eleven months into the work, according to Kenya Ports Authority.
The project is being developed by China Communications Construction Company(CCCC), commenced on February 1, with a timeline of 30 months.
It is expected to be ready by August 1, 2021.
KPA is the contractor of the new terminal, which will see the current 50-year old Kipevu Oil Terminal relocated to a new site on the southern side of the port (near Dongo Kundu), opposite the current container terminal.
“The progress of development of KOT as of end 30/11/2019 was: Actual: 38.13 per cent% and planned: 40.23%,” KPA wrote in reply to inquiries by the Star.
“We are within the timelines in expanding capacity in oil handling reasonably ahead of demand,” KPA head of corporate affairs Bernard Osero told the Star yesterday.
The new terminal will have the capacity to handle four vessels of up to 100,000 tonnes and will have an Liquified Petroleum Gas line that is expected to help stabilise cooking gas supply in the country.
Currently, the country depends on the old Kipevu Oil Terminal and the Shimanzi terminal near the Likoni Ferry channel to offload oil products. The two can only handle one oil tanker at a time.
“Mombasa port currently has only two oil terminals that are not able to handle the increasing quantities of imported oil and gas. The Kipevu Oil Terminal will supplement the two facilities at Shimanzi and the old Kipevu terminal,” KPA managing director Daniel Manduku said.
According to Manduku, the construction of the oil terminal is part of the authority's expansion programme which is key to securing the country's energy needs.
Ongoing works include marine piling, the process of building deep foundations into the ground below sea level to support buildings and structures that are offshore.
“We are ahead of schedule. Dredging was completed at the end of November. We are now pilling as per the construction plan,” KPA managing director Daniel Manduku told the Star on phone.
The new KOT will have both subsea and land-based pipelines connecting it to the storage facilities in Kipevu, and the capacity to handle five different fuel products.
These are crude oil, heavy fuel oil and three types of white oil products (DPK-aviation fuel, AGO-Diesel and PMS-Petrol).
Increased capacity is expected to ave importers from demurrage-a charge payable to the owner of a chartered ship on failure to load or discharge the ship within the time agreed.
It is also expected to help stabilise fuel prices as the country remains a heavy importer of refined products.
KOT is further expected to promote increased uptake of Liquefied Petroleum Gas(LPG), according to the Petroleum Institute of East Africa.
“The new KOT will feature a dedicated LPG import pipeline which is a necessary capital investment and strategic action that will facilitate the operation of corresponding storage facilities in Mombasa,” PIEA general manager Wanjiku Manyara noted.
The government plans to put up LPG storage and handling facilities in Mombasa, Nairobi and Eldoret , with the help of oil marketers in collaboration with Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC). This is expected to help meet growing demand locally and regionally.