The Tazama Pipeline, also Tanzania–Zambia Crude Oil Pipeline, is a 1710 km long crude oil pipeline from the port of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, to the Indeni Petroleum Refinery in Ndola, Zambia.

Location

The Tazama pipeline extends from the Indian Ocean port of Dar es Salaam, in Tanzania to the industrial city of Ndola, Zambia, in the Copperbelt Province, close to the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The pipeline travels approximately 1060 miles (1,710 kilometers). For 954 km the pipeline has a diameter of 8 in, and for the remaining 798 km, the pipeline diameter is 12 in. According to the map at the pipeline website, the pipeline passes through or near the following cities and towns: Dar es Salaam, Morogoro, Epass, Iringa, Mbeya, Chinsali, Mpika, Kalonje and Ndola.

Overview

The Tazama Crude Oil Pipeline was constructed to transport crude oil from the port of Dar-es-Salaam into landlocked Zambia, at an affordable, sustainable economic cost. When installed in 1968, the pipeline had a carrying capacity of 1100000 tonne annually. By 2002, carrying capacity had deteriorated to 600000 tonne annually. Associated infrastructure owned by Tazama in Tanzania, includes the tank farm in Dar es Salaam consisting of six storage tanks onshore, which comprise three tanks of 36000 m3 capacity combined and three tanks of combined capacity of 41000 m3. There are seven pump stations in total between Dar-es-Salaam and Ndola; five stations in Tanzania and two in Zambia.

Ownership

The pipeline is owned and operated by a company called Tazama Pipelines Limited, with headquarters in Ndola Zambia and an office in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. TAZAMA stands for Tanzania Zambia Mafuta. "Mafuta" means "Oil" in Kiswahili. The table below illustrates the shareholding in the shares of stock of Tazama Pipelines Limited.

Operation

Due to age and lack of regular maintenance, the Tazama pipeline suffers corrosion and develops leaks from time to time. Repair of those leaks is necessary to avoid environmental degradation. Due to inability by Tazama Pipeline and Indeni Petroleum Refinery to supply all the refined petroleum products that Zambia requires, in the desired quantities, the government of Zambia and that of Tanzania, are contemplating building a 1349 km refined petroleum products pipeline at an estimated cost of US$1.5 billion. No timeframe has been given.