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- May 11, 2013
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Kenya has completed modifying its ageing refinery to allow reverse flow of oil through the pipeline from onshore storage tanks to ships ahead of the start of crude exports next month.
The modification means oil can flow in both directions — from storage tanks to ships and from ships to the tanks.
“That has been done already,” Petroleum principal secretary Andrew Kamau told the Business Daily when asked last week on the refinery upgrade progress.
Kenya plans to move 2,000 barrels of oil daily from Turkana oilfields in northern Kenya to Mombasa port by road from mid-this month — in the absence of a pipeline — to be stored at the Mariakani refinery tanks.
This will allow small-scale oil exports — 2,000 barrels per day — from next month to test the receptivity of the oil in the global market, pending construction of the Sh210 billion pipeline by 2021 to cover 865km.
The pipeline will pump more oil volumes and allow large-scale exports.
Mr Kamau said the first sea tankers will dock at the Mombasa port in June to pick up the consignment.
He said the storage facilities at the defunct Kenya Petroleum Refineries Limited (KPRL) have been refurbished to handle the Turkana crude.
KPRL has 45 tanks, nearly half of which will store the crude from Turkana for shipment while the rest is for refined products.
Turkana crude
The reverse-flow modification will also enable Kenya to export 400,000 barrels of oil stuck in Mombasa tanks since the closure of the refinery in 2013 together with the Turkana crude, paving the way for oil marketers to recoup losses from the commodity they had imported earlier.
The 400,000 barrels is made up of crude oil, residue of refined oil and naphtha or flammable oil.
The cargo belongs to oil marketers who were obligated to refine a portion of their crude at the defunct refinery at a fee before it shut down.
The government wants to dispose of the deadstock alongside the Turkana oil small-scale exports which will only occupy a small fraction of the ship per trip.
“The ship has compartments to accommodate the different components of the deadstock, comprising naphtha, high sulfur diesel, and Murban crude,” said Mr Kamau.
Kenya has so far struck 750 million barrels of oil.
Oil to flow both ways after refinery upgrade
The modification means oil can flow in both directions — from storage tanks to ships and from ships to the tanks.
“That has been done already,” Petroleum principal secretary Andrew Kamau told the Business Daily when asked last week on the refinery upgrade progress.
Kenya plans to move 2,000 barrels of oil daily from Turkana oilfields in northern Kenya to Mombasa port by road from mid-this month — in the absence of a pipeline — to be stored at the Mariakani refinery tanks.
This will allow small-scale oil exports — 2,000 barrels per day — from next month to test the receptivity of the oil in the global market, pending construction of the Sh210 billion pipeline by 2021 to cover 865km.
The pipeline will pump more oil volumes and allow large-scale exports.
Mr Kamau said the first sea tankers will dock at the Mombasa port in June to pick up the consignment.
He said the storage facilities at the defunct Kenya Petroleum Refineries Limited (KPRL) have been refurbished to handle the Turkana crude.
KPRL has 45 tanks, nearly half of which will store the crude from Turkana for shipment while the rest is for refined products.
Turkana crude
The reverse-flow modification will also enable Kenya to export 400,000 barrels of oil stuck in Mombasa tanks since the closure of the refinery in 2013 together with the Turkana crude, paving the way for oil marketers to recoup losses from the commodity they had imported earlier.
The 400,000 barrels is made up of crude oil, residue of refined oil and naphtha or flammable oil.
The cargo belongs to oil marketers who were obligated to refine a portion of their crude at the defunct refinery at a fee before it shut down.
The government wants to dispose of the deadstock alongside the Turkana oil small-scale exports which will only occupy a small fraction of the ship per trip.
“The ship has compartments to accommodate the different components of the deadstock, comprising naphtha, high sulfur diesel, and Murban crude,” said Mr Kamau.
Kenya has so far struck 750 million barrels of oil.
Oil to flow both ways after refinery upgrade
