December 23, 2019 [Expogr] – According to Kenya Ports Authority after taking eleven months to work for Construction of the Sh39 billion new Kipevu Oil Terminal (KOT) is 40 % done. The project is being developed by China Communications Construction Company(CCCC), started 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 moved 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.

The new terminal will have the capacity to handle four vessels of up to 100,000 tonnes and will have a Liquified Petroleum Gas line that is expected to support stabilise cooking gas supply in the country.

Presently, 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.

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.

Rising 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 boost increased uptake of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), according to the Petroleum Institute of East Africa.

“The new KOT will emphasize 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 cooperation with Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC). This is expected to support meet growing demand locally and regionally.

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