Museveni hosts Kenya energy chiefs for oil talks

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Wednesday hosted a high-level delegation of energy officials from Kenya at State House Entebbe for talks over the importation of petroleum products between the two neighbours.  

The Kenyan delegation was led by Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi, Petroleum Principal Secretary Mohamed Liban and Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) Director-General Daniel Kiptoo.

The visit comes a year after Kampala made the decision to stop importing its petroleum products from Kenyan oil marketing companies which would import the commodity and re-export it to Uganda.

This made Uganda a key source of US dollars for Kenya.

According to the Ugandan Ministry of Energy, the country consumes about 6.5 million litres of fuel products per day.

Uganda imports about 2.5 billion liters of fuel annually, estimated at $2 billion (Ksh258 billion). An estimated 90% of this volume is imported through Kenya.

The East African Community (EAC) country, which is Kenya’s largest trading partner, imports the remaining 10% through Tanzania.

Today, I received a Kenyan delegation at Statehouse Entebbe, headed by Hon. Opiyo Wandayi, Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Petroleum, to discuss regional advancements in petroleum product importation

yoweri museveni

Late last year, Museveni tasked Ugandan State-owned Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) with the role of importing the whole of the country’s fuel needs from global energy trader Vitol Bahrain.

Uganda said the decision was informed by Kenya’s move to the government-to-government model for fuel importation, which had inflated fuel prices in Uganda.

In July 2024, Uganda imported its maiden shipment of fuel through Kenya’s Port of Mombasa.

Ahead of the first consignment, A UNOC branch was established in Nairobi to facilitate collaboration with stakeholders such as the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC).

In March, EPRA handed UNOC a license, ending months of dispute between the two countries over the oil importation scheme.

Uganda and Kenya also signed a Tripartite Agreement (TPA) ahead of the first shipment of petroleum products from Vitol in July.

The parties to the TPA are the governments of Uganda, Kenya and UNOC.

The other is the Transport and Storage Agreement between UNOC and KPC.

KPC infrastructure namely the storage terminals and the pipeline from Mombasa to Nakuru, Kisumu and Eldoret is facilitating UNOC’s importation.

info@thenergyreview.com