Oil marketers in Uganda are set to pick their imported products in Kampala instead of through affiliate transport companies in Kenya, marking a significant change in the industry. The Uganda National Oil Company (Unoc) will now handle fuel shipments for oil firms without affiliates in Kenya, affecting transport companies that have historically benefitted from transporting petroleum goods from the Mombasa port.
Unoc’s decision comes as a blow to local oil marketing companies that heavily rely on the fuel transit business to neighboring countries like Uganda, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Sudan. With Unoc now directly importing fuel from Vitol Bahrain, only Ugandan OMCs with nominated Kenyan partners can supply fuel to Uganda, ending decades of dependency on Kenya for fuel needs.
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