The long awaited deal of the Tanzania – Uganda natural gas pipeline has been finally sealed off after an agreement was signed on Saturday August 25, 2018.
The natural gas pipeline project was launched in Tanga by Presidents John Magufuli of Tanzania and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and French oil multinational Total is the main contactor .
The multimillion dollar deal followed a three-day Joint Permanent Commission Summit in Kampala, led by Tanzania’s Foreign Minister Augustine Mahiga and Uganda’s Minister for Energy Irene Muloni.
Ever since Songosongo Island in Tanzania’s southern region of Lindi started extracting natural gas in 2004, the Tanzania-Uganda project will be the first trans-border gas pipeline in East Africa.
The pipeline comes just 15 months after Dar es Salaam and Kampala agreed in May 2017, to construct a crude oil pipeline from Hoima in Uganda, to Chongoleani in Tanga.
Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) managing director Kapuulya Musomba told The EastAfrican that he was confident the pipeline construction would be successful given the expertise and experience gained through the construction and servicing of two pipelines — the 532km Mtwara-Dar es Salaam one and the crude oil pipeline that is underway.
He said that apart from carrying natural gas to Uganda, the pipeline will distribute the product along the route.
“About 10 to 15 Tanzania regions will benefit from the pipeline that will also serve as a catalyst for oil and gas exploration,” Mr Musomba said.
Tanzania has a confirmed natural gas recoverable reserve of 57.5 trillion cubic feet.
Uganda plans to set up a mega project to extract iron ore, a key raw material for the production of iron and steel.
During his visit to Tanzania on August 9, 2018, President Museveni underscored the need for improving production of iron, which is required for infrastructure projects, such as the standard gauge railways in Kenya and Tanzania.
