The LAPSSET Crude Oil Pipeline will transport crude oil from South Sudan and Kenya's South Lokichar fields to Lamu Port for export. The project includes pipeline, terminal and offshore loading infrastructure linked to the wider LAPSSET corridor.
Official Kenyan reporting in January 2026 stated that approximately 821 km of pipeline mapping and design had been completed, while construction, land acquisition, financing and cross-border implementation arrangements remained outstanding.
The project proposes a crude-oil pipeline from the South Sudan oil fields and the South Lokichar basin in Kenya to Lamu Port. Crude oil will be received at a tank terminal and transported through export pipelines to offshore single-point moorings for loading onto oil tankers. The PAP II design also considers related product-pipeline and refinery interfaces. At Lamu, the export system includes onshore and offshore pipeline sections routed to avoid the town centre and sensitive port-development areas, with offshore connections to the designated loading points.
Verified implementation and technical context: The pipeline is one component of the wider LAPSSET corridor, but its development must be assessed separately from Lamu Port works, highway construction, the South Lokichar upstream petroleum project and interim road or rail evacuation options. The Parliament of Kenya reported that the pipeline design and mapping covered about 821 km and that the facility could also provide a commercial export route for South Sudanese crude. The project nevertheless requires an agreed regional implementation framework, secure land rights, environmental and social approvals, a commercially viable tariff and throughput structure, financing and coordinated terminal and offshore-loading infrastructure before physical construction can begin.
1. Establish a commercially viable export route for crude oil from Kenya's Lokichar Basin and potentially South Sudan. 2. Reduce transportation costs for crude oil compared to road transport. 3. Support economic development and regional integration by linking landlocked regions to a maritime port. 4. Create direct and indirect employment during construction and operation phases. 5. Enhance energy security and revenue generation for Kenya and South Sudan.