Kenya to start taking bids for new pipeline

The Kenyan government is set to start inviting bids for the design and construction of the 800 km Kenya-Uganda crude oil pipeline. According to reports, the new pipeline will coast approximately US$3 billion and will run from Hoima, near the western border of Uganda, via Turkana in northeast Kenya to the city of Lamu, which is located on the coast of the Indian Ocean. Construction of the pipeline was agreed upon in 2013; the two countries will be responsible for building their respective sections.

The project would allow East African countries to export oil to Asia Pacific countries through the Indian Ocean; an oil exporting facility for this purpose is currently being built in Lamu. "We are not only looking to build the pipeline to take Kenyan oil to the market. We are also opening a gateway for the landlocked countries of East Africa to access the market through the Indian Ocean," said Davis Chirchir, Kenya's Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum during an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

"We will start receiving expressions of interest in a few weeks from companies that want to help us build the pipeline," said Chirchir, who further noted that the process to select the winner would take five to six months.

Edited from various sources by Rosalie Starling

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