A Danish multi-disciplinary engineering, design and consulting company, Ramboll, has been selected by Uganda’s Ministry of Energy & Mineral Development to conduct an early-phase study for the “Hoima–Kampala Refined Petroleum Products Pipeline” in Uganda.
The study will provide information on the proposed pipeline to be constructed to transport Uganda’s refinery products from Kabale in Hoima to the planned distribution terminal in Buloba, 17 km west of Kampala. The total length of the pipeline from Hoima to Kampala is 210 km.
According to Ramboll officials, the scope of work involves studying a utility corridor, including detailed pipeline routing. It will also involve an environmental baseline study (EBS).
“The utility corridor of about 110 metres wide is required for construction of vital infrastructure comprising refined petroleum products pipeline, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) cables, a dual-carriage highway, and power transmission lines between Hoima and Kampala. Ramboll is required to study and advise on how the planned infrastructure and auxiliary utilities will share the common corridor without compromising the safety, reliability, and integrity of each infrastructure. The pipeline routing will include challenging river and swamp crossings, “Ramboll said in a statement.
The Danish multinational said this project could portend their entry into East Africa. “The East African region is emerging as a premier destination for oil and gas exploration and development. Petroleum discoveries have been made in South Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique and Kenya. All petroleum products are currently imported into the region at over US$5 billion per year representing over 25 per cent of the total import bill of the region. The Hoima-Kampala pipeline is to be developed as part of a refinery project supporting the establishment of a domestic oil and gas industry in Uganda,” it further said.
Søren Skovgård Møller, Director of Engineering and Onshore Gas & LNG, in Ramboll Oil & Gas, said he foresees good opportunities for other projects in East Africa.
“We are using the two ongoing projects in Uganda to actively pursue the East African market for more onshore and offshore projects. We are monitoring the market opportunities in Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda for interesting projects within oil, gas projects as well as industrial master planning. Moreover, we are carefully following the big development projects in Tanzania and Mozambique where Ramboll’s multidisciplinary skills set could be of great value to the developers,” said Møller.
For this project, Ramboll has partnered with a Ugandan firm, Newplan. The two are also partners on the greenfield project ‘Kabaale International Airport’ in the Hoima District, which is a new airport mooted by the Government of Uganda to service the oil industry and local communities in Western Uganda.
