Uganda’s Energy Ministry said on Thursday that Kenya would finally allow landlocked Uganda’s state oil company to ship petroleum products through the port of Mombasa, ending a dispute with its neighbours.
Uganda has been sourcing for alternative ways of importing petroleum products, including through a Tanzanian port, after its oil retailers for decades received their cargo through affiliated firms in Kenya, according to Reuters.
The spokesperson for Uganda’s Ministry of Energy and Minerals, Solomon Muyita said the first shipment under the new system was expected in May.
“Kenya has agreed to give us a licence, UNOC (Uganda National Oil Company) is now free to import through Mombasa,” he said.
Kenya’s Energy Minister Davis Chirchir told the Business Daily newspaper, which first reported the news that UNOC would deal with KIPCO to use the Kenya Pipeline Company to move the products.
In 2022, Uganda’s import of petroleum products amounted to 1.6 billion dollars, mainly from the Gulf. Kenya imports about 90% of the products through Kenya.
It announced in November that it planned to hand over exclusive rights to supply all petroleum products to a unit of the global energy trader Vitol, which would then supply UNOC.
According to Kenya’s media, a meeting between Kenyan President William Ruto and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni in Uganda last month led to an agreement on resolving the dispute.
