Results of Moz–Malawi fuel pipeline study said to be favourable

A study into the feasibility of a multi- million-dollar fuel pipeline from Mozam-bique’s Indian Ocean port of Beira to Malawi’s lower Shire Valley district of Nsanje – undertaken by Qatari firm Vanessia Petroleum – has reportedly produced favourable results, and the Malawi government is optimistic that implementation of the project will start before the end of the year.

The project will slash the cost of transporting imported liquid fuel from the coast to the landlocked Southern African country.

Malawi Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe says: “The information we have so far indicates that the project is feasible. We will soon engage in talks with the Mozambican government, through whose territory the pipeline is expected to pass, on how best the project can be carried out.

“We hope the negotiations will be completed soon to allow the project to commence before the end of the year.”

Gondwe says Vanessia Petroleum has pledged to spend $150-million on laying the pipeline and building fuel storage facility at Nsanje, which will also be the port of call for the proposed Shire–Zambezi waterway project.

He says the Qatari firm will manage the pipeline and storage facilities under the build, operate and transfer model.

The fuel storage facility will enable Malawi – which currently has the capacity to hold oil stocks to last ten days only – to hold enough oil to last about 90 days.

Currently, Malawi transports its fuel by road from the ports of Dar-es-Salaam, in Tanzania, Nacala, in Mozambique, and Durban, in South Africa, and “the high cost of fuel in the country” is partly blamed on this relatively expensive mode of transport.