Tazama Oil Pipeline

From Global Energy Monitor
This article is part of the Global Fossil Infrastructure Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.
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Tazama Oil Pipeline (Tanzania Zambia Mafuta Pipeline) is an oil pipeline in Tanzania and Zambia.[1]

Location

The pipeline runs from the Single Point Mooring terminal at the outer anchorage of in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, to the Tanzanian and Italian Petroleum Refining Company (TIPER) refinery in Dar-es-Salaam and the Indeni refinery in Ndola, Zambia.[1][2][3]

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Project details

  • Operator: Government of Zambia (66.7%), Government of Tanzania (33.3%)[4]
  • Capacity: 22,000 barrels per day[5]
  • Length: 1,710 kilometers[1]
  • Status: Operating[1]
  • Start year: 1968[4]
  • Cost: 6,649,407 GBP (in 1967)[6]
  • Financing: 5,542,407 and 11,070,00 GBP from Italy[6]

Background

The pipeline was commissioned in 1968, with capacity of 22,000 barrels per day. The pipeline is owned by Tazama Pipeline Limited, a joint company of the governments of Zambia (66.7%) and Tanzania (33.3%). The 1,710 kilometers of pipeline consists of two major portions, one measuring 954 kilometers and eight inches in diameter, and another portion of 798 kilometers and 12 inches in diameter. There are seven pumping stations, 5 of which are located in Tanzania and two in Zambia.[5]

Under Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema’s reform plan, Zambia switched from importing crude feedstock to refined imported petroleum products from Dar es Salaam, Mozambique, South Africa, and Namibia, which rendered the Tazama pipeline obsolete. However, in 2022 new efforts to up increase Zambian fuel imports from Tanzania have seen the two countries have devise a plan for the Tazama pipeline to transport diesel[7].

Proposed Expansion

As of November 2016, both the Tanzanian and Zambian governments have discussed either modernizing the aging Tazama pipeline or creating a new pipeline to run parallel to the original line. The new project aims to facilitate the transportation of crude oil, refined oil, and natural gas.[8]

In May 2020, Tazama Pipeline said that it was seeking a $400 million loan to expand the 954-km, 8-inch portion of the pipeline to the full 12-inch diameter of the remainder of the pipeline.[9]

Oil Spills

Maintenance on the line has proven difficult since the pipeline's inception in 1968, with many leaks recorded since then. In 1973, its first leak occurred and another 100 leaks were recorded by 1983.[5] As recently as 2012, Zambia experienced fuel shortages due to a burst in the pipeline at Ilinga in Tanzania.[10]

Articles and resources

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "The Pipeline". TAZAMA Pipelines Limited.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. Pastory Nguvu (16 October 2007). "TAZAMA pipeline a ticking time bomb". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 October 2009.
  3. "https://epcmholdings.com/the-big-five-african-pipelines/". Retrieved 2022-08-19. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. 4.0 4.1 "TAZAMA". TAZAMA Pipelines Limited. Retrieved 22 February 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Tazama Opererations, Tazama Pipelines, accessed September 2017
  6. 6.0 6.1 "The Big Five African Pipelines". EPCM Holdings. 2021-08-22. Retrieved 2022-05-31.
  7. "Tanzania and Zambia outline plan to revive Tazama pipeline". The Citizen. Retrieved 2023-02-11.
  8. Christopher Kidanka, "Tanzania, Zambia consider joint oil, gas pipeline", The East African, November 28, 2017
  9. Patrick Mulyungi, Tazama Pipelines seeks loan to upgrade Tanzania–Zambia Crude Oil Pipeline, Construction Review Online, 27 May 2020.
  10. Fuel shortage due to a burst on the TAZAMA pipeline-Government, Lusaka Times, June 10, 2012

Related GEM.wiki articles

External resources

External articles

Wikipedia also has an article on Tazama Oil Pipeline. This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the GFDL.