04-04-06 Kenya wants a pipeline built from Southern Sudan to the coastal town of Lamu to ship oil to regional and world markets.
In a presentation to Southern Sudan government officials at a recent investment conference in Nairobi, Kenya Pipeline Corporation managing director George Okungu said Kenya's proximity to the sea and experience in pipeline management favoured Lamu port -- as opposed to the Port of Sudan on the Red Sea -- as the exportation port for Southern Sudanese oil.

Mr Okungu said the distance from Kapoeta to Mombassa was 1,020 km, compared with 4,500 km to Port Sudan. He said Kenya's regional positioning gave Southern Sudan unparalleled advantage in lead-time and sealing important business deals.
Kenya's Energy Minister Henry Obwocha said East African countries annual petroleum product imports amount to three mm tons worth $ 2.5 bn or 25 % of total imports. Kenya presented a proposal in which it would jointly build the pipeline with the Southern Sudan government. The proposal cites the security of supply and reduction of dependency on oil from the Middle East as incentives for Kenya and other countries in the Great Lakes region to pool resources for the venture.
The suggestion of Lamu as the destination and shipping port is in itself instructive. Recent reports say there might be oil reserves in the area. Should Kenya strike oil in the region, Sudan could benefit from such shipping facilities or the refinery in Mombassa.
KPC would also build storage facilities both for white and crude oil in Lamu and connect the pipeline to the already operational pipeline that runs to western Kenya. An alternative pipeline branching off from the main KPC line at Eldoret through Lokichoggio to the Southern Sudan city of Juba has been suggested.

Last November, Kenya and Sudan signed a memorandum of understanding where the Sudan Chamber of Commerce invited firms in various sectors, among them the building and construction sectors, through Kenya Chamber of Commerce and Industries, to participate in the Afro Arab Trade Fair.
Sudan was reported to be keen to help Kenyan firms establish and strengthen their distribution networks in Sudan, a country that has always looked north for the supply of goods and services.

KPC is upgrading its pumping capacity from 440 cm per hour to 880 cm per hour and bids for construction of four new pumping stations are expected to be concluded by May.
It is also building a 320 km pipeline from Eldoret-Kampala at a cost of $ 120 mm.