Oil Marketing Companies urged to invest in storage facilities to access TAZAMA pipeline

Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have been urged to invest in fuel storage infrastructure to support government’s policy measure which enables third-party access to the Tanzania-Zambia Mafuta (TAZAMA) Pipeline.

This is according to the Policy Monitoring and Research Centre (PMRC) in its 2024 national budget analysis, focusing on the energy sector.

Of particular concern to PMRC is the move to enable third-party access to the TAZAMA Pipeline which it indicated was a positive step towards fostering competition in the energy sector.

The Centre believes that this open-access policy is poised to benefit consumers by providing them with more choices and potentially lower prices.

“Moreover, the call for private sector investment in a new pipeline to increase fuel import capacity signifies a broader effort to diversify energy infrastructure and ensure long-term energy security.

“This is a call to OMCs to invest in fuel storage infrastructure to support this policy measure,” according to the analysis.

Meanwhile, Indeni Energy Board Chairperson, Watson Lumba, has proposed that only OMCs with storage facilities should have access to the pipeline.

“I do not think it is every Jim and Jack in the energy sector who should access that, reason being that right now the pipeline is more like redundant,” he said.

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