By Ebi Kesiena
Uganda and Tanzania have stepped up negotiations to develop a pipeline for refined petroleum products, in a move aimed at strengthening regional energy security and reducing Uganda’s heavy reliance on Kenyan transit routes.
The plan gained fresh impetus following a meeting between Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, where both leaders agreed to fast-track the construction of a pipeline linking Uganda to Tanzania’s port city of Tanga. The project would further entrench Tanzania as a key transport corridor for the landlocked country.
In a statement posted on X, President Museveni said the two leaders reviewed progress on major joint energy projects, including the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), which he noted is progressing steadily. He added that discussions also covered proposed gas and refined petroleum pipelines, describing the partnership as critical to shared energy security and regional exports.
The refined products pipeline is designed to complement the 1,443-kilometre EACOP currently under construction, which will carry crude oil from Uganda’s Lake Albert oilfields to the Tanzanian coast.
Unlike the crude oil pipeline, the refined petroleum line is expected to operate as a two-way system. In the short term, it would enable Uganda to import refined fuel through Tanzania while its domestic refinery is being developed. In the longer term, the same infrastructure would allow Uganda to export refined petroleum products to regional and international markets.
At present, Uganda sources about 90 per cent of its refined petroleum through Kenya, a trade that contributes an estimated 35 per cent of annual revenue to the Kenya Pipeline Company. The proposed shift therefore represents a major realignment of energy logistics in East Africa.
By diversifying its fuel supply routes, Ugandan authorities say the country hopes to reduce vulnerability associated with dependence on a single transit corridor.
Officials from both countries confirmed that technical, commercial and regulatory assessments are ongoing. Although a final investment decision has not yet been taken, the pipeline is seen as a central element of the Uganda National Oil Company’s strategy to stabilise domestic fuel prices and deepen regional integration.
If completed, the refined petroleum pipeline would stand alongside the EACOP and the planned refinery in the Albertine Graben as the third major pillar of Uganda’s emerging multi-billion-dollar oil and gas sector
