The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development in Uganda has selected a Danish consultancy firm Ramboll to  conduct an early-phase study for the Refined Petroleum Products Pipeline.

The proposed refined products pipeline will run the refinery point in Hoima to an assembly point in Buloba near Kampala.

Ramboll won the project in joint partnership with local player Newplan. Newplan is also sub-consultant to Ramboll on the greenfield project Kabaale International Airport under construction in Hoima. The government intends to use the airport to service the oil industry and local communities in Western Uganda.

According to the information from Ramboll,  Newplan is performing most of the field work for the Hoima-Buloba pipeline such as topographical survey, geological and geotechnical investigations, EBS and ESIA (Environmental and Social Impact Assessment)

Ramboll Director of Engineering and Onshore Gas & LNG, Soren Skovgard Moller said the company is capitalising on the on both the Airport and the Pipeline project in Uganda to explore more opportunities in East Africa budding oil and gas Industry.

“We are using the two ongoing projects in Uganda to actively pursue the East African market for more onshore and offshore projects. We are monitoring the market opportunities in Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda for interesting projects within oil, gas projects as well as industrial master planning” he said.

He added that the large gas reserves discovered in Mozambique and Tanzania present a greater deal of opportunities that the company is tracking with extra care.

“We are carefully following the big development projects in Tanzania and Mozambique where Ramboll’s multidisciplinary skills set could be of great value to the developers,” Moller noted.