Kenya bags Rwanda fuel deal as 40,000 tonnes dock at Mombasa Port

Kenya has wrested a major share of Rwanda’s fuel imports from Tanzania after 40,000 metric tonnes of petrol and diesel docked at the Port of Mombasa.

The consignment, equivalent to nearly one month of Rwanda’s consumption, arrived aboard MT Sea Wolf at Kipevu Oil Terminal 2 on Tuesday morning.

It is the maiden cargo under a June 29 framework deal between Kenya and Rwanda.

Energy Cabinet Secretary James Opiyo Wandayi said the deal will grow Rwanda-bound volumes through the Northern Corridor tenfold, from 60,000 to 600,000 cubic metres annually.

“The MT Sea Wolf arrival confirms that Kenya is ready to be Rwanda’s gateway to the world energy markets and the preferred route for Rwanda’s petroleum imports through our Northern Corridor,” said Wandayi.

“This project is expected to grow the volume of petroleum products moving from Kenya to Rwanda tenfold over the coming years. That is a vote of confidence to Kenya as a nation.”

Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) Acting MD Pius Mwendwa said the 1,342-kilometre pipeline network, with an annual capacity of 14 billion litres and storage capacity of 1.138 billion litres, is ready to absorb the increased volumes without affecting local supply.

The fuel will be moved via the KPC pipeline to the Kisumu Oil Jetty before being transported through the lake route to Rwanda.

Rwanda expressed optimism about the project, saying the Mombasa route will diversify its supply and strengthen energy security amid global shipping disruptions.

“Our government's response has been deliberate to diversify our import routes and collaborate with regional partners. This project with Kenya is a practical example of our energy security strategy,” said Rwanda Minister of State in the Ministry of Infrastructure, Armand Zingiro.

“It also supports our national efforts to build strategic fuel reserves; Rwanda is also expanding its own fuel storage.”

The deal is also expected to boost Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and KPC transit revenues and cement Mombasa’s position as the EAC’s energy hub as competition with Dar es Salaam’s Central Corridor intensifies.

CS Wandayi has also hinted that Kenya is eyeing future fuel supply to Rwanda from the planned Lamu Refinery.

KPA Managing Director Captain William Ruto, on his part, said the port was handling petroleum products destined for different East African markets.

“As KPA, we are very happy that today we have three vessels for the East African Community. We have the Tom Edwin for Kenya. All these ships are carrying different petroleum products. The Kenyan one is carrying Jet fuel, the Ugandan one has AGO, and the one for Rwanda has AGO (Diesel) and PMS (petrol),” Captain Ruto stated.

He further noted that KPA was also facilitating other projects, including the Lokichar crude oil project.

“As KPA, we facilitate trade and for the Lokichar crude oil project, we have a ship in the port offloading rinks for that project; on Saturday we will have the ship from Dangote offloading shipment cargo,” he said.