Uganda/Kenya oil saga continues as Kenya refuses Uganda access to its oil pipelines

Uganda's bid to utilize Kenya's pipeline for fuel transportation was denied.
This was denied due to concerns about displacing local oil marketing businesses.
The Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) partnered with Vitol Bahrain EC, signing an agreement for oil acquisition and supply.

In September, Uganda's bid to utilize Kenya's pipeline for fuel transportation was denied.

This was owing to the fact that the deal could potentially displace local oil marketing businesses from utilizing the pipes, as seen in The Citizen, a Tanzanian news publication.

This is the latest report in a series of events leading to the likely termination of Uganda and Kenya’s oil partnership.

Kenya and Uganda have been at odds with each other for the past few weeks over the future of their energy sectors. Uganda recently disclosed that it would end its dependence on Kenya for its oil importation. The country instead, opted to go with another East African country, Tanzania.

Additionally, the Uganda National Oil Business (UNOC), a state-owned oil business, and Vitol Bahrain EC, an energy firm, reached a deal under which Vitol Bahraini would pay Uganda National Oil's efforts to acquire and supply oil.

According to a spokesperson for the Tanzanian energy ministry, Vitol and UNOC had already signed the agreement, and the state business was expected to receive its first exclusive cargo in January.

Currently, according to Ms. Ruth Nankabirwa, Tanzania's energy minister, Tanzania's Dar es Salaam port receives the remaining gasoline imports from Uganda, a landlocked nation, while Kenya's Mombasa port handles over 90% of Uganda's fuel imports.

Uganda expressed displeasure with Kenya for signing a golf deal with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, which Uganda deemed harmful. They noted that the deal would leave neighboring countries vulnerable to expensive pump prices.

“Changes by the government of Kenya on April 2023 to enter into government-to-government importation structures with the government of UAE and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to manage the challenges they were facing were done without consultation with Uganda whether to their advantage or not,” as seen in an extract from the minutes of a meeting where Uganda had called out Kenya for signing the golf deals.