Kenya and Tanzania have signed a deal for the transportation of liquefied petroleum gas via pipeline from Mombasa to Dar es Salaam.
The announcement was made today at State House by visiting Tanzania President Samia Suluhu, who is on a two-day state visit.
At a joint Press conference in Nairobi, Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu and her Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta said they had agreed to build more interconnecting infrastructure, starting with a gas pipeline and roads as part of a long-term project to share energy resources.
The MoU on Cooperation in Natural Gas Transportation means respective Ministers of Energy can start negotiating the design, cost and other logistical needs for the pipeline to be built.
A joint communique said it will enhance “energy sufficiency” with Kenya keen on importing gas from Tanzania’s nascent plant.
Importation constraints coupled with lack of adequate storage infrastructure to ensure steady supply has meant Kenya has had challenges meeting its demand for liquefied petroleum gas.
Kenya aims to be a mid-income country by 2030 with robust industries. This will depend largely on the availability of a steady energy supply in the country. According to the ministry of energy the total integrated installed effective capacity under hydrology is 1470 MW.
Tanzania has so far made discoveries of natural gas in four areas namely Songo Songo Island, Mnazi Bay, Mkuranga and Kiliwani North. Three more offshore gas fields were discovered, raising the country’s gas deposits. Tanzania currently has seven offshore fields.
In addition there are 15 exploration companies already operating in Tanzania with more than 50 hydrocarbon wells at different stages of exploration and development.
There are reportedly 28 prospective sedimentary basins in the East African region, with over 37 international oil and gas companies licensed there to date. It is estimated that the petroleum and natural gas resources in East Africa are at 2 billion bbls of oil and over 10 trillion ft3 of gas respectively.
No timelines were given but President Samia said respective technocrats have been directed to start working on it immediately.
“That is a long-term project and we are thankful that today we have signed an agreement and what remains is implementation,” she said.
Tanzania and Kenya will be constructing a 558-km gas pipeline from the commercial capital of Dar es Salaam to Tanga (both in Tanzania) and on to Kenya’s coastal city of Mombasa.
The Kenya-Tanzania gas pipeline comes at the heels of another energy pipeline signed between Tanzania and Uganda.
Uganda signed a $3.5 billion deal with Tanzania to route the former’s oil exports through the latter’s territory, through the 1,445-kilometre crude oil pipeline.
