The Hoima–Kampala Petroleum Products Pipeline (HKPPP) is a proposed pipeline to transport refined oil products from the

Uganda Oil Refinery The Uganda Oil Refinery is a planned crude oil refinery in Kabaale village, on the Eastern shore of Lake Albert along the Hoima–Kaiso–Tonya Road, Buseruka Sub-county, Hoima District, Western Region, Uganda, near the border with the Democrat ...

Hoima Hoima is the second capital of Uganda. It is the main municipal, administrative, and commercial center of Hoima District. It is also the location of the palace of the Omukama of Bunyoro. Location Hoima is located approximately northwest of K ...

to a distribution terminal near

Buloba Buloba is an urban area in Wakiso District in the Central Region, Uganda, Buganda Region of Uganda. The area is primarily a middle-class residential neighborhood. Location Buloba is on the Asphalt concrete, tarmacked Kampala–Mityana Road. It i ...

Wakiso District Wakiso District is a Districts of Uganda, district in the Central Region, Uganda, Central Region of Uganda that partly encircles Kampala, Uganda's capital city. The town of Wakiso is the site of the district headquarters. Kira Town, Kira, the count ...

, approximately , by road, west of Kampala's central business district.

Location

The pipeline will begin at the Uganda Oil Refinery at Kabaale Township, Buseruka Sub-county,

Hoima District Hoima District is a Districts of Uganda, district in Western Region, Uganda, Western Uganda. Like most other Ugandan districts, it is named after its main municipal centre, Hoima. Location Hoima District is bordered by Buliisa District to th ...

Western Uganda The Western Region of Uganda is one of four regions in the country of Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west ...

near the international border with the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. The pipeline will end at an oil products distribution terminal to be constructed in the neighborhood of Buloba along the

Kampala–Mityana Road The Kampala–Mityana Road is a road in the Central Region of Uganda, connecting the capital city of Kampala to the town of Mityana in Mityana District. Location The road begins in the Busega neighborhood, in Lubaga Division, northwestern Ka ...

. The total length of the pipeline will be approximately .

Background

The pipeline will transport various products, including

jet fuel Jet fuel or aviation turbine fuel (ATF, also abbreviated avtur) is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in aircraft powered by Gas turbine, gas-turbine engines. It is colorless to straw-colored in appearance. The most commonly used fuels for ...

gasoline Gasoline ( North American English) or petrol ( Commonwealth English) is a petrochemical product characterized as a transparent, yellowish, and flammable liquid normally used as a fuel for spark-ignited internal combustion engines. When for ...

kerosene Kerosene, or paraffin, is a combustibility, combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in Aviation fuel, aviation as well as households. Its name derives from the Greek (''kērós'') meaning " ...

, and

diesel fuel Diesel fuel, also called diesel oil, heavy oil (historically) or simply diesel, is any liquid fuel specifically designed for use in a diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignition takes place without a spark as a re ...

. From Buloba, the products will be distributed by truck to various locations in Uganda. Buloba will also be the point of sale to the international market of any excess petroleum products. The Kenya–Uganda–Rwanda Petroleum Products Pipeline will interface with this pipeline at Buloba to ease transfer of product between the two pipelines when needed. In October 2018, the

Uganda National Oil Company The Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC), also known as the National Oil Company of Uganda, is a limited liability petroleum company in Uganda owned by the Ugandan government. The 2013 Petroleum (Exploration, Development and Production) Act of U ...

(UNOC) secured of raw land in Namwabula Village,

Mpigi District Mpigi District is a district in Central Uganda. Like most other Ugandan districts, it is named after its 'main town', Mpigi. Location Mpigi District is bordered by Wakiso District to the north and east, Kalangala District to the south, Kalungu ...

, approximately , west of downtown Kampala, where a greenfield petroleum products depot is being developed.

Construction

, the

government of Uganda The politics of Uganda occurs in an Authoritarianism, authoritarian context. Since assuming office in 1986 at the end of the Ugandan Bush War, Ugandan civil war, Yoweri Museveni has ruled Uganda as an Autocracy, autocrat. Political party, Politi ...

was evaluating bids by several international firms to determine which had the best plan to construct the pipeline. The selected firm will "conduct a baseline environmental study for the project and generate a blueprint for the pipeline’s route". Another company, yet to be selected, will be hired to implement the resettlement plan for the people who will displaced by the pipeline. All the companies under consideration are from outside Africa, although their names have not been disclosed. In July 2015, the Ugandan government selected Ramboll Group A/S, a Danish consulting engineering company to conduct a detailed route and environmental study for an oil products pipeline that will run from Hoima to Buloba. The pipeline will be accompanied by information and communication technology cables, a dual-carriage highway, and power transmission lines between Hoima and Kampala, all contained in a "utility corridor". Ramboll's report is expected in about one year.

Ownership

In April 2018,

Proscovia Nabbanja Proscovia Nabbanja is a Ugandan geologist and corporate executive, who is the chief executive officer of the Uganda National Oil Company, since 1 October 2019. From 15 August 2019 until 1 October 2019, she was the acting CEO at the company. S ...

, the

chief operating officer A chief operating officer (COO), also called chief operations officer, is an executive in charge of the daily operations of an organization (i.e. personnel, resources, and logistics). COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the C ...

(UNOC), revealed that UNOC will own 51 percent of the Buloba terminal, JK Minerals Africa (South Africa) shall own 20 percent and a strategic partner, yet to be identified, will own 29 percent. The terminal will have capacity of . The cost of building the fuel products terminal is budgeted at US$51.7 million (USh194 billion), to which UNOC will contribute US$10.5 million (USh39.4 billion), in equity.

References

External links