The Tazama Pipeline, also Tanzania–Zambia Crude Oil Pipeline, is a long crude oil pipeline from the port of
Dar-es-Salaam,
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...
, to the
Indeni Petroleum Refinery
The Indeni Petroleum Refinery is an oil refinery in Zambia's industrial city of Ndola.
Location
The refinery is located in Ndola, Ndola District, Copperbelt Province, approximately , by road, southeast of the city's central business district ...
in
Ndola,
Zambia
Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...
.
Location
The Tazama pipeline extends from the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...
port of Dar es Salaam, in Tanzania to the industrial city of Ndola, Zambia, in the
Copperbelt Province, close to the border with the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
. The pipeline travels approximately 1060 miles (1,710 kilometers).
For the pipeline has a diameter of , and for the remaining , the pipeline diameter is .
According to the map at the pipeline website, the pipeline passes through or near the following cities and towns: Dar es Salaam,
Morogoro, Epass,
Iringa,
Mbeya,
Chinsali
Chinsali is a town in Zambia, which is both the district headquarters of Chinsali District and provincial headquarters of Muchinga Province.
Location
It lies just off the road between Mpika and Isoka (Tanzam Highway; Zambia's Great North ...
, Kalonje and Ndola.
Overview
The Tazama Crude Oil Pipeline was constructed to transport crude oil from the port of Dar-es-Salaam into landlocked Zambia, at an affordable, sustainable economic cost. When installed in 1968, the pipeline had a carrying capacity of annually.
By 2002, carrying capacity had deteriorated to annually.
Associated infrastructure owned by Tazama in Tanzania, includes the tank farm in Dar es Salaam consisting of six storage tanks onshore, which comprise three tanks of capacity combined and three tanks of combined capacity of . There are seven pump stations in total between Dar-es-Salaam and Ndola; five stations in Tanzania and two in Zambia.
Ownership
The pipeline is owned and operated by a company called ''Tazama Pipelines Limited'', with headquarters in Ndola Zambia and an office in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. TAZAMA stands for Tanzania Zambia Mafuta. "Mafuta" means "Oil" in
Kiswahili.
The table below illustrates the shareholding in the shares of stock of Tazama Pipelines Limited.
Operation
Due to age and lack of regular maintenance, the Tazama pipeline suffers corrosion and develops leaks from time to time. Repair of those leaks is necessary to avoid
environmental degradation
Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as quality of air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems; habitat destruction; the extinction of wildlife; and pollution. It is defin ...
.
Due to inability by Tazama Pipeline and Indeni Petroleum Refinery to supply all the refined petroleum products that Zambia requires, in the desired quantities, the government of Zambia and that of Tanzania, are contemplating building a refined petroleum products pipeline at an estimated cost of US$1.5 billion. No timeframe has been given.
References
External links
Official Website
{{coord, 13, 02, 26, S, 28, 40, 48, E, display=title
Infrastructure completed in 1968
Oil pipelines in Tanzania
Oil pipelines in Zambia
Tanzania–Zambia relations
1968 establishments in Tanzania
1968 establishments in Zambia