Axpo and Vitol launch first LNG Bunkering at Italy's Civitavecchia port. by Kash Aug 12, 2026 Axpo and Vitol have successfully completed the first-ever ship-to-ship LNG bunkering operation at Italy's Port of Civitavecchia, utilizing the newly commissioned 7,500 m3 vessel Green Pearl. This strategic milestone integrates Europe's second-largest cruise port into Italy's growing alternative fuel network, following similar rollouts in Genoa and Naples. Driven by industry leaders like Axpo and Vitol, the expansion highlights the rapid development of low-emission supply chains essential for accelerating the maritime sector's decarbonisation. Civitavecchia, Italy | August 12, 2026 - In a major milestone for Mediterranean maritime decarbonisation, Axpo and Vitol have successfully completed the first-ever liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering operation at the Port of Civitavecchia, Italy's largest cruise port and Europe's second-largest overall. The landmark ship-to-ship refuelling operation targeted a flagship vessel belonging to a leading international cruise line, reinforcing Italy's rapidly expanding infrastructure for alternative maritime fuels. Key highlights of the operation. * Historic First: The operation marked the inaugural ship-to-ship LNG refuelling at the Port of Civitavecchia, executed seamlessly at the port's berth 18 on a Sunday morning. * The Vessel: The refuelling was carried out by the Green Pearl, a state-of-the-art 7,500 m3 Italian bunkering vessel. Brought into service in 2026 and operated by Axpo, the ship is purpose-built for both ship-to-ship and ship-to-truck bunkering operations across Italian ports. * Strategic Expansion: Civitavecchia, the primary seaport serving Rome, now joins Genoa and Naples in offering commercial LNG refuelling services, marking a crucial leap forward in Italy's alternative fuel supply chain. Driving the maritime energy transition. The introduction of LNG bunkering at Europe's second-largest cruise hub signifies a coordinated effort to address tightening environmental regulations and accelerate shipping sustainability in the Mediterranean. Simone Demarchi, CEO of Axpo Italia, emphasized the strategic importance of the milestone "This latest operation shows the ability of our supply chain to grow rapidly and meet the needs of leading international cruise lines. Over the coming years, the shipping and cruise sectors will be called upon to accelerate their decarbonisation journey. Today, LNG is one of the most substantial and readily available solutions to help support this transition." Echoing this perspective, Stefan Dubbeldam, Head of Small Scale LNG & LNG Bunkering at Vitol, highlighted the broader environmental outlook "LNG and bio-LNG have a key role to play in reducing emissions from bunkering. Vitol is globally invested throughout the value chain, from upstream bio-LNG and LNG production and offtake, through to solutions for customers through our LNG Bunker Vessel fleet." Expanding low-emission infrastructure across Europe. The extension of Axpo's footprint to Civitavecchia builds upon a rapid succession of infrastructure rollouts. It closely follows the launch of LNG ship-to-ship bunkering services in Genoa in late 2025 and Naples in May 2026. Axpo remains heavily invested in forging a robust, dedicated low-emission fuels supply chain tailored to the maritime and heavy transport sectors. Alongside the 7,500 m3 Green Pearl, Axpo has also chartered the Alisios LNG, a brand-new 12,500 m3 capacity bunkering vessel dedicated to low-emission fuels, which commenced operations in Spain in March 2026. About Vitol. Founded in Rotterdam in 1966, Vitol has grown into a global titan in energy and commodities, orchestrating the management and delivery of energy, metals, and resources worldwide. Operating through approximately 40 offices globally, Vitol delivers over 600 million tonnes of oil equivalent (TOE) of energy. Beyond trading, Vitol is a heavy investor in global infrastructure, committing more than $13 billion to physical assets. A participant in the LNG markets since the mid-2000s, Vitol delivered 23 million metric tonnes of LNG and 1,800 TWh of natural gas, specializing in tailor-made supply solutions through its extensive fleet and portfolio. About Axpo. Axpo operates with a singular purpose: to enable a sustainable future through innovative energy solutions. As Switzerland's largest energy producer and an international leader in energy trading, the company specializes in the marketing of solar and wind power. Driven by a workforce of approximately 7,500 employees, Axpo leverages cutting-edge technologies to meet the evolving energy needs of customers across more than 30 countries spanning Europe, North America, and Asia.

Uganda's Tanga pivot tightens the squeeze on Kenya's fuel corridor. Reading Time: 3 mins read Uganda's decision to help build a $20bn energy hub on Tanzania's coast is being read across the region as more than an oil-trading venture. It is the clearest sign yet that Kampala is building a long-term alternative to the Kenyan supply route that has carried its fuel for decades. The Memorandum of Understanding signed on Thursday in Dar es Salaam commits the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC), Tanzania's state-owned TPDC and the global trader Vitol Bahrain E.C. to develop the port of Tanga into a centre for petroleum storage, refining, logistics and trading. It was witnessed by Presidents Yoweri Museveni and Samia Suluhu Hassan, and it deepens a partnership already anchored by the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) running from western Uganda to the Tanzanian coast. Neither government framed the deal as a move against Nairobi. But the strategic logic is hard to miss. For decades, landlocked Uganda has depended almost entirely on the Kenyan corridor, importing around 2.5 billion litres of fuel a year - worth roughly $2bn - with the Port of Mombasa and the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) handling more than 90% of the cargo. That dependence became a source of friction in 2023, when Uganda withdrew from Kenya's government-to-government fuel arrangement and moved to import directly through UNOC, blaming Kenyan middlemen for inflating its pump prices by as much as 58%. The break was bitter. Uganda signed a supply deal with Vitol, Kenya's energy regulator withheld the licence UNOC needed to use KPC's system, and Kampala took the dispute to the East African Court of Justice, accusing Nairobi of breaching the EAC Treaty. Kenya eventually issued the licence in mid-2024, and UNOC began importing directly that May. But the episode exposed how much leverage sat with whoever controlled the pipeline to the sea. Tanga is the answer Uganda has been building towards. Once EACOP is complete and the proposed refined-products and gas pipelines to the coast advance, Uganda would for the first time have a credible southern outlet for both its crude exports and its fuel imports - one that runs entirely outside Kenyan territory. The hub adds refining and storage at the far end of that line, giving Kampala a second door to the global market. The shift is directional rather than immediate. For all the friction, the Kenyan route remains the cheaper one: industry executives put the cost of moving 1,000 litres of petrol from the Kenyan pipeline terminal at Kisumu to Kampala at about $40, roughly a third of the cost of hauling the same volume from Dar es Salaam. More than 90% of Uganda's fuel still enters through Mombasa, and UNOC paid KPC about Sh1.2bn in the first year of its direct-import arrangement to keep using Kenyan infrastructure. A wholesale switch to Tanzania is neither imminent nor, at today's prices, obviously economic. What the Tanga deal changes is Uganda's bargaining position. By financing a rival corridor with Tanzania and Vitol, Kampala gains an option it never had during the 2023 standoff, when it had nowhere else to turn. For Kenya, the stakes are real: transit fuel to Uganda underpins a significant share of the dollar earnings KPC relies on, and any long-term erosion of those volumes would be felt in Nairobi. Tanzania's Minister of Energy, Deo Ndejembi, cast the hub in continental terms, saying it could attract more than $20bn and would move the two countries beyond shipping crude towards refining and trading. "EACOP transports molecules. The Tanga Regional Energy Hub transforms those molecules into prosperity," Ndejembi said. Uganda's Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, Monica Musanza Musenero, said the projects were about capturing value at home. "These are not merely infrastructure projects; they are strategic investments that will create jobs for our young people, deepen regional trade and strengthen the logistics systems that support our economies," Musenero said. She confirmed that studies for a refined-products pipeline and storage terminal should conclude this year, and those for a natural gas pipeline linking the two countries by October 2026. For now, Uganda still fuels itself through Kenya. But with each stage of the Tanga project, the balance of dependence tilts a little further south - and Nairobi's grip on its neighbour's fuel corridor loosens by the same degree.

Museveni, Samia launch new phase of Uganda-Tanzania energy partnership. DAR ES SALAAM - President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and Tanzanian President Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan have launched a new phase of Uganda-Tanzania energy cooperation after witnessing the signing of a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly develop the Tanga Regional Energy Hub. President Museveni, who is on a two-day working visit to Tanzania, was received by President Samia at State House in Dar es Salaam, where the two leaders held bilateral talks on strengthening cooperation before overseeing the signing ceremony. The MoU brings together the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC), the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC), and Vitol Bahrain E.C. to develop the regional energy hub, which will build on the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). The project is expected to position Tanga as a regional centre for petroleum storage, refining, logistics, trading and distribution, while complementing Uganda's planned Hoima refinery and expanding energy trade across East and Central Africa. Uganda's Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, Dr Monica Musenero, described the agreement as a major milestone in regional integration and a practical demonstration of the two countries' commitment to shared economic development. "For a long time, Your Excellencies have advocated for a united Africa driven by common interests and shared trade. Today, we are witnessing a giant step towards joint development with our sister nation," she said. Dr Musenero said the partnership extends beyond infrastructure, describing it as a strategic investment in industrialisation, job creation and regional trade. "These are not merely infrastructure projects. They are strategic investments that will create jobs for our young people, deepen regional trade and strengthen the logistics systems that support our economies," she said. She stressed that Uganda intends to maximise value from its petroleum resources by investing in downstream industries instead of exporting raw commodities. "We need to extract greater value by developing secondary and tertiary industries, building the knowledge economy and creating high-skilled jobs in engineering, operations, maintenance, laboratory analysis and management," she said. Dr Musenero said feasibility and front-end engineering design studies for the proposed refined petroleum products pipeline and storage terminal are expected to be completed later this year, while feasibility studies for a proposed Uganda-Tanzania natural gas pipeline are scheduled for completion by October 2026. She also highlighted progress on the planned Uganda-Tanzania 400kV electricity interconnector, revealing that Uganda secured US$250 million in World Bank financing in June after concluding negotiations earlier this year. According to the minister, the transmission line will increase electricity trade between the two countries, strengthen the Eastern Africa Power Pool and open opportunities for power exports to Southern Africa. She reaffirmed that Uganda's planned 60,000-barrel-per-day Hoima refinery remains central to the country's industrialisation strategy and complements the Tanga Regional Energy Hub. "The hub is complementary. Together, these projects will strengthen regional energy security while enabling East Africa to retain more value from its petroleum resources," she said. Dr Musenero added that the successful implementation of EACOP has demonstrated Uganda's and Tanzania's capacity to deliver complex cross-border infrastructure, boosting investor confidence for future regional projects. Tanzania's Minister of Energy, Hon. Deo Ndejembi, described the agreement as another milestone in the growing energy partnership between the two countries. "The story we celebrate today did not begin in 2026. It began several years ago when Tanzania and Uganda made the courageous decision to deepen cooperation in the petroleum sector," he said. He said while EACOP laid the foundation for regional collaboration, the Tanga Regional Energy Hub represents the next stage by creating value through refining, storage, logistics and industrialisation. "As EACOP approaches completion, Tanzania and Uganda are not asking what comes next. Instead, we are answering that question together," he said. In one of the ceremony's notable remarks, Hon. Ndejembi said, "EACOP transports molecules. The Tanga Regional Energy Hub transforms those molecules into prosperity." He said the proposed hub could attract more than US$20 billion in investment, making it one of the largest integrated energy infrastructure developments in Sub-Saharan Africa. Addressing concerns over Uganda's planned Hoima refinery, Hon. Ndejembi said the two projects are complementary rather than competitive. "Uganda's decision to develop the Hoima refinery reflects its sovereign objective of maximising value from its petroleum resources through domestic refining and industrial development. Tanzania fully supports that ambition," he said. He added that a proposed bidirectional multi-product pipeline between Uganda and Tanzania will allow refined petroleum products to move in either direction based on market demand, strengthening regional energy security and expanding export opportunities. President Samia later hosted President Museveni at a state luncheon in honour of his visit.