Museveni launches construction of 320-million-litre Kampala fuel storage terminal

President Yoweri Museveni has launched the construction of the Kampala Storage Terminal (KST), a major petroleum facility expected to strengthen Uganda’s fuel security.

Museveni presided over the groundbreaking ceremony in Mpigi District as the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) marked the start of construction.

The terminal will hold 320 million litres of petroleum products. Uganda currently consumes about 240 million litres each month.

Energy and Mineral Development minister Monica Musenero described the terminal as a strategic project that would protect Uganda from international supply disruptions, market shocks and emergencies.

“It will secure our energy security as a nation. It is going to be a strategic positioning project for the country,” Musenero said.

The government currently holds only 30 million litres of fuel at its Jinja storage terminal. Work is underway to add another 10 million litres at the facility.

Once completed, the Kampala and Jinja terminals will provide a combined storage capacity of 360 million litres.

Musenero said the government acquired land for the Mpigi project in 2008 as national fuel demand increased.

The terminal also forms part of a petroleum infrastructure plan developed in 2017.

Under the plan, the facility would serve as the delivery point for the proposed Eldoret-Kampala petroleum pipeline extension. It would also support the proposed Kampala-Kigali pipeline and the Hoima-Buloba pipeline from Uganda’s planned refinery.

Construction of the refinery in Hoima is expected to begin next year.

The Hoima-Buloba pipeline would connect the refinery to the new storage facility.

The terminal will also give UNOC space to manage its trading stock while allowing the government to build and maintain strategic fuel reserves.

“It will give us a buffer against international supply disruptions, market shocks and other emergencies,” Musenero said.

Speaking at the event, Museveni welcomed the project but said its planned capacity was still inadequate for a country seeking long-term energy security.

He criticised the government’s slow response to weaknesses in Uganda’s petroleum supply system.

“Sleeping has been a big problem in Africa. In this sector, there was a lot of sleeping,” Museveni said.

He said Uganda previously bought petroleum products through middlemen in Kenya until a Kenyan senator brought the arrangement to his attention.

“I called the then minister, Irene Muloni, and told her this was a disaster. She did nothing until later, when we linked up with refineries and started getting our own fuel,” Museveni said.

Uganda later changed its import arrangement by allowing UNOC to purchase petroleum products directly and supply local oil marketing companies.

Museveni said the country was beginning to correct its past mistakes but needed larger reserves.

“We are now moving slowly out of sleep,” he said.

“You have heard that in a month we use 240 million litres of petroleum, but up to now, the storage in Jinja was only 30 million.”

Museveni said the Mpigi terminal could cover national demand for more than a month but warned that this remained insufficient during prolonged disruptions.

“This one here will be 320 million litres, which should secure us for a month plus. People are happy, but I see that this is not how a country should be run,” he said.

“I think this here is not enough.”