Zambia secures liquid bulk lifelines

Zambia is securing its fuel supplies through a range of pipeline deals.Earlier this year it was announced that the country had commenced building a second 700-kilometre fuel pipeline for diesel supplies landed in Tanzania.The initial investment is $300 million.According to Zambian energy minister Peter Kapala, the new pipeline will run alongside an existing 1 710 Tazara pipeline, but will include newer technology.Zambia imports most of its fossil fuels through Tanzania.Fuel is expected to start f lowing through the new pipeline this year.“Phase one of the pipeline will end in Mpika (district in northern Zambia), phase two in Ndola (in Copperbelt Province), and phase three in Solwezi (in northwestern Zambia),” Kapala told a live radio broadcast.However, he did not expand on the second and third phases of the project.In April 2021 Zambia and Angola signed a $5-billion deal to build a multi-product pipeline between the two countries.The Angolan petroleum pipeline will be developed by the private sector, with state-owned petroleum Angolan firm SANANGOL and the Zambia state company Industrial Development Corporation-IDC Zambia Ltd as strategic equity partners.It will carry petrol, diesel, kerosene, and gas.Zambia's daily fuel consumption averages two million litres of diesel, one million litres of petroleum, and 800 000 litres of kerosene.The main diesel consumer is the mines.In May it was reported that Zambia and Tanzania were discussing the possibility of building a $1.5bn gas pipeline for Zambia to import gas from Tanzania, which has extensive offshore fields.Zambia is also in talks with Namibian authorities for the building of an oil and gas pipeline from Walvis Bay to Lusaka.It will be built by a private company and will carry around 350m cubic feet of gas a day to feed power plants, according to reports.Mining investment into Zambia is on the increase, led by First Quantum which is expanding the Kansanshi copper mine. Photo: First Quantum.