Posted on :Friday , 21st January 2022

Kenya will double capacity of handling transit petroleum products starting this month from the current 35,000 tonnes as the Sh40 billion new Kipevu Oil Terminal in Mombasa is complete.

President Uhuru Kenyatta is scheduled to inspect the facility accompanied by Chinese State Councilor and minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi and to conduct a dry run test.

The new oil terminal, which is financed by Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and constructed by China Communication Construction Company, can handle up to four vessels compared to the existing one that handles one vessel at a time.

The new terminal is an off-shore facility at the Mombasa port, opposite the existing Kipevu Oil Terminal.

The project consists of one offshore island terminal with 4 berths whose total length is 770 metres and one work boat wharf at the Westmont area for landing facilities.

The facility also has 5 sub-sea pipelines, which were buried 26 metres under the seabed to allow for future dredging of the channel without interfering with the pipes.

KPA acting Managing director John Mwangemi said the new facility is capable of handling 6 different hydrocarbon import and export products. It is also fitted with a liquefied petroleum gas facility, crude oil and heavy fuel oil.

The terminal also has provisions for handling 3 types of white oil products — aviation fuel, diesel and petrol, he said.

“The new oil terminal will effectively replace the old Kipevu Oil Terminal situated on the mainland Port Reitz, which was built in 1963 to serve the then East Africa Oil Refinery, which later became the Kenya Petroleum Refineries Limited,” said Mr John Mwangemi.