TANZANIA and Zambia are planning to construct new oil and gas pipelines that will boost trade between the two countries and meet the high demand for energy in the two nations.
Minister for Energy, January Makamba told journalists in Dar es Salaam that six ministers from Tanzania and Zambia will hold a meeting in Dar es Salaam where among many other things, they will receive and discuss recommendations from a team of experts regarding the procedures for conducting a feasibility study for the construction of the pipelines.
According to the minister, the need for a new oil pipeline came following the rapid growth of business as well as the huge demand for oil.
“It has been seen that there is a need to build a wider pipe that will be able to transport other products besides diesel. These are big, important and strategic projects for us.
The existing pipeline currently transports about 90 million litres monthly, and if it will be effective, our Zambian counterparts will continue to rely on services provided by our ports,” Minister January said.
He also said that the construction of the pipeline will also enable Dar es Salaam to have a bigger market for oil in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
“The pipeline will reduce the cost of oil transportation; it will enable the southern regions of Tanzania to get oil easily since the new plan will offer the unloading services in the regions of Morogoro, Iringa, Mbeya and Songwe.
“In our discussions, we will look at the availability of funds and technical issues for the construction of the pipeline,” he added.
Equally, the minister announced that the Tanzania–Zambia Crude Oil Pipeline (TAZAMA) has begun transporting diesel since January this year, asking the public to safeguard the pipeline from all sorts of damages.
According to the minister, TAZAMA pipeline that was transporting crude oil to be refined in Zambia was suspended for a long time, and during the suspension the two countries agreed to change the pipeline system from transporting crude oil to clean oil.
“In our meeting tomorrow, we will throw weight behind the protection of the TAZAMA pipeline. We all know the difference in the value of consumption between crude and refined oil, the need for protection and safety of the pipeline is now crucial because it is now easier for people to vandalise the infrastructure and siphon diesel,” January said.
Speaking on the gas pipeline, he said Zambians have requested to use gas from Tanzania and the search for gas in the country is still going on to see if there will be enough gas and sufficient market before embarking on the pipeline project.
In December last year, Tanzania and Zambia governments embarked on intergovernmental talks on conversion of the TAZAMA pipeline to transport finished petroleum products.
The TAZAMA Crude Oil Pipeline was constructed to transport crude oil from the port of Dar es Salaam to the landlinked Zambia, at an affordable, sustainable economic cost. When it was installed in 1968, the pipeline had a carrying capacity of 1,212,542 tonnes annually.
The meeting today to be led by January will be attended by the Minister for Defence and National Service Innocent Bashungwa, Minister for Home Affairs Hamad Masauni, Zambia’s Minister for Defence, Ambrose Lufuma, Minister for Home Affairs and Internal Security, Jacob Mwiimbu and Zambia’s Energy Minister Peter Kapala
Source: Nam News Network