Construction of Lakeside Oil Logistics Facility in Uganda nears completion
The US$270 million oil facility is being constructed by Mahathi Uganda, and is set to start operations in March this year (2022).
The oil logistics facility is located on Lake Victoria, and will be a strategic addition to Uganda’s oil infrastructure.
The facility has a storage capacity of has a capacity of 70 million litres, and contains 14 storage tanks. The facility also includes a jetty that extends 256 metres into the lake. There are also four 118-metre long oil tankers planned for construction, of which the second one is nearing completion.
Four types of fuels will be stored at the terminal - diesel, petrol, aviation fuel and kerosene.
The shareholders of this venture are Mahathi Infra Services Private of India, Nairobi-based Siginon Group (an engineering firm), and local company Fortune Energy.
The 14 tanks at the facility will more than double Uganda’s petroleum storage capacity to 70 million litres of gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel and kerosene, according to the chairman of Mahathi Uganda, Captain Michael Mukula. Captain Mukula also stated that the project will help halve freight costs involved in transporting petroleum products by shifting transportation of the products from roads to the lake.
This development is in line with the regional plan to improve the transportation situation on Lake Victoria, which will ease up transport costs. Uganda’s current consumption of petroleum products is reported to be 185 million litres monthly.
“This project is a game-changer critical in petroleum logistics and will increase the reliability of supplies,” said Project Manager, Dinesh Donadi.
Negotiations are on with at least 70 oil marketers, including Vivo Energy Uganda and TotalEnergies SE’s local unit, to procure supplies from the facility once ready.
The storage terminal on Lake Victoria will ease fuel movement into Uganda from Kenya. It will also fulfil landlocked Uganda’s plan to develop an oil hub with transit infrastructure, to service cargo destined for the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan. Goods are currently transported to these countries by road.
The facility will also be used to export oil out of Uganda after 2025, when production from fields developed by Total Energies start their planned production.
Top Photo: Mahathi Infra Uganda Oil Storage Terminal (mahathiinfrauganda.com)
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