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South Sudan, DR Congo interested in Ugandan crude oil export pipeline: minister

https://www.chemnet.com   Feb 27,2015 Platts
South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo have shown an interest in the construction and development of the proposed 1,300-km (806-mile) crude pipeline to the Kenyan coast, Ugandan Minister for Energy and Minerals Development Irene Muloni told Platts in an interview Wednesday.

The pipeline development is a regional project where Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda agreed to have a feasibility study that is being carried out by Toyota Tsusho, Muloni said.

"The feasibility study is expected to be completed by April this year and discussions with Congo and South Sudan about their participation are already going on.

There are interests from South Sudan and Congo which the government is going to take into consideration," she said.

Uganda and other East African nations want to capitalize on a string of oil and gas discoveries that could turn the region into a major exporter, but production has been hampered by, among other issues, disputes over export routes.

The pipeline to Lamu is going to run through northwest Kenya and will also provide an alternative export route for South Sudan's crude.

Currently South Sudan relies on a pipeline through its northern neighbor, Sudan, from which it broke away after a 22-year civil war. Continuing disputes between the two countries have disrupted flows.

Total, China National Offshore Oil Corp. and UK-based Tullow Oil are already in the process of developing Uganda's oil assets.

The country has so far discovered up to 6.5 billion barrels of oil in the Lake Albert Rift Basin. Production is expected to start in early 2018, Muloni said.
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