While Kenya and Tanzania continue to contest for the Ugandan oil pipeline to pass through their country in a bid that has created hostility between the two African nations, Kenyan officials have stated that an oil pipeline will be built in their country, with or without the Ugandan partnership, Tuko reported.
According to Kenyan Energy Principal Secretary, Joseph Njoroge, the country may build its own pipeline to transport oil from the northern Turkana region to a port at the coast. “Whatever the outcome, we will build an oil pipeline, whether we are together with the Ugandans or not,” Njoroge said in a phone interview with Bloomberg.
Experts, however, believe that it was not feasible for Kenya to construct its own pipeline. “Kenya’s reserves currently estimated at about 600m barrels and it does not support the country building its own pipeline. It is not viable because as opposed to gaining from a regional, a local pipeline will make the country lose much more,” said Jacques Nel, a South African senior economist, quoted by Bloomberg.
Kenyan and Ugandan officials recently toured the Kenyan coastal towns of Mombasa and Lamu, and Tanga in Tanzania as they explore the most feasible route for the pipeline. A meeting to decide on which route is most feasible will be held on April 7th in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, Kenyan Energy Principal Secretary specified.