Kenya Pipeline petrol scare worsens
Updated Wednesday, May 23 2012 at 23:22 GMT+3 By Jackson Okoth Kenya Pipeline Corporation concedes tonnes of ‘dirty’ Super fuel found its way into its pumping and storage system, a fact that should worry motorists and other users of this brand. What is worse, KPC can’t explain exactly what led to the contamination of 600,000 tonnes of super petrol that was tested twice in Mombasa, found to be pure when bought at the Middle East, in its pipeline. Again, it is not clear what measures KPC has put up to ensure the importer does not dump the bad fuel in the market as it returns the bad fuel on trucks back to Mombasa. Curiously, the importer Gulf African Petroleum (GAPCO), does not seem to have resisted the order to go take back the fuel, which in itself portends massive financial loss, despite KPC’s admission the contamination took place in its transport outlay. Again, it is baffling that KPC ordered Gapco to take back the fuel on trucks to Mombasa, yet the refinery there no longer processes Super petrol as it is imported in a ready-to-use state from the Middle East. The fuel was imported by the firm through the Open Tender System and was part of the 76 million litres supply tender it won. While it is still unclear exactly where the contamination occurred or who authorised the shipment to be loaded onto KPC systems, the corporation has gone on damage control overdrive, shifting some of the blame of delays in sucking out the bad fuel from its system on Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). slow clearance “We blame Kenya Revenue Authority, which has been slow in issuing clearance before this fuel mixture is released from our slop tanks. Although the process begun on Tuesday last week, KRA has taken long to process the required documentation to enable this consignment move out of our tanks,” lamented Mr Selest Kilinda, KPC managing director at a hurriedly convened press briefing at the firm’s head offices. What is also still unclear, and which compounds KPC’s image problem following the Sinai Fire tragedy linked to negligence on its pipe network then under repair, is whether any tests were done on this consignment before being discharged from the ship and what levels of verification were done and by whom. This puzzle gets even trickier when Gapco, one of the leading independent petroleum marketers with powerful political connections and directorships, is at the eye of the storm. quality control Questions also still linger on why KPC accepted to transport a product that does not meet local standards and who is to pay the cost of transporting this fuel to and from Nairobi back to the refinery at Mombasa. It is still a mystery how some much contaminated fuel or bad fuel got into the system despite the expected, stringent quality control measures put in place by KPC. It is not difficult to imagine the logistical nightmare that has befallen KRA and KPC as they both seek ensure that the 600,000 litres are not diverted into the local market by unscrupulous dealers. Sources familiar with the Kenyan oil industry report “there are growing fears somebody highly connected in the system could be clandestinely exporting fuel bought by public funds under the guise that the product is contaminated while it actually is not.” “The other possible scenario is that dirty fuel was brought into the country and is being clandestinely released into the market, in which case, motorists will be struggling with damage to vehicles. Could it be that an individual has been importing fuel and using Government facilities to store it as a market is sought?” asks one source. In the meantime, Kenyans suffer because tanks that are meant to store fuel for the local market are filled with a bad product or one meant for other markets. Efforts by The Standard to obtain comment from Gapco officials were fruitless with its management reportedly locked up in close-door meetings. However, feedback from industry players painted a picture of something gone very wrong with the entire fuel discharge and distribution mechanisms. one million litres KPC top management insists that while some ‘anomalies’ were discovered with the Super petrol consignment, there is no need for panic as only one million litres of this consignment was being withdrawn from the market. By the time of going to press, we could not immediately establish whether this consignment of Super petrol originating from Kenya Petroleum Refineries Ltd (KPRL) was subjected to parallel testing between KPC and KPRL before acceptance by KPC.??It is also unclear whether at the different stages of testing, KPC issued certificates of quality as evidence of conformance to specifications. “The entire consignment of 76 million litres of Super petrol has not been condemned as has been reported. Only one million litres of this cargo is being uplifted and will either be taken back for refining or injected to manageable levels,” said Engineer Elias Karumi, KPC chief technical manager. failure to blend KPC officials confirmed the process of moving the one million litres out of their system was ongoing. “It is upon Gapco to decide what to do with this consignment, which is not actually contaminated but is being moved out of our slop tanks after failure to blend it,” said Philip Kimelu, operations manager at KPC. His statement, however, seemed to imply the fuel was usable, which begs the question why it was being removed under orders not to be released into the market in the first place. “We have opted to move out the 1.023 million litres of the Super petrol to avoid contamination of the entire consignment of 76 million litres,” said Kimelu. “Usually, fuel is contaminated at the point of entry and it is upon KPC to ascertain quality before the cargo is released from the ship. Adulteration can also occur within the pipeline system where one product follows another, without any physical segregation,” explained Patrick Obath, a senior energy industry practitioner. verification A pipeline contamination incident, however, is not unusual but takes months before it can be rectified and normal quality supply restored. It is possible for oil products imported into the country to be contaminated at the point where it is discharged from the vessel to the KPC storage tanks at Kipevu in Mombasa. “All fuel products shipped into the country have to meet Kenya Bureau of Standards specifications before they are pumped from the vessel into KPC storage tanks,” said Angeline Maangi, operations manager at Addax Oryx, an oil-marketing firm. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/SouthSudanKob?hl=en.
