DAR ES SALAM (Commodity Online) : Tanzania is all set to build a new oil refinery and a 1,500-kilometres pipeline to bring oil to its interiors, according to country's Energy and Minerals ministry.

The ministry said, the $3.5 million project will be carried out by Noor Oil & Industrial Technologies (NOIT), a US based multinational oil firm will give the region a steady, uninterrupted supply of refined products.

Landlocked East African Community member states are also to get benefit from a proposed oil pipeline to connect them to Tanzania.

The project's advantages are linked to the huge net proceeds from the storage and transport of petroleum products to Mwanza, Kigoma and neighbouring states, ministry added.

Besides cheaper oil, East African countries will also save on the cost of road maintenance occasioned by excessive use of surface transport to deliver products to destinations.

The project's feasibility study by US-based Fluor Enterprise Inc. is in its final stage and will be completed in July. . The feed stock supply of crude oil for the refinery, design, engineering, technology and plant and main contractor for oil refinery and pipeline have been secured from global leaders in the oil and gas industry including Gazprom of Russia.

The refinery will supply Tanzania and its neighbours with refined products in addition to some for the export market.

The state-of-the-art refinery will yield 98 per cent white products. The design of the project will allow room for expansion.

Russia Energy