Operations

40 years complying with the highest international standards.

CPMZ’s operations are focused on the management and upkeep of the pipeline that links the port of Beira to Feruka in Zimbabwe and ensure optimum safety and reliability conditions. Its excellent performance is based on a successful combination: state-of-the-art technology, robust infrastructure and highly qualified teams.

We strive for ongoing improvement in the quality of the service we provide and ongoing monitoring of the best practices applied in this industry. CPMZ renovated the pipeline completely between 2008 and 2014 and, since 2018, it has been working on a project to gradually increase the number of cubic metres it can transport.

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World-class technology

We receive the fuel directly at the port of Beira and, by means of pumping operations backed by a strict control system, we transport the product to Feruka, in Zimbabwe, through a 294-kilometre pipeline of 10 inches in diameter. Besides the pipeline, CPMZ’s assets include pumping stations at Beira and Maforga (Manica) and administrative facilities in Beira and Maputo, as well as a reception terminal at Feruka, in Zimbabwe.

Along the entire fuel transport line, the pumps and equipment used by CPMZ meet the highest engineering standards. It has a complex fuel pumping infrastructure with equipment and systems based on cutting-edge technologies, a world industry benchmark in hydrocarbon processing and transport facilities.

We guarantee real-time monitoring of the pipeline and everything that happens in the pumping stations by using an advanced control system for pumping operations. Our system has three technological aspects:

  1. Extremely reliable hardware.
  2. Software based on SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) technologies, internationally recognised for their ability to transform industrial system monitoring data into intelligent information to support decision-making, effective control and critical event management.
  3. Modern telemetry system. Our high-tech operations are carried out by an experienced and highly qualified team. Circa 30% of CPMZ’s employees are technical staff. This high level of technical know-how bolsters our in-house ability to make repairs and deal with other maintenance needs.

In this mix of experience and innovation, CPMZ’s history is testimony to the reliability of our operations which are designed to cope with unforeseen events. The quality of the assets, remote monitoring of the entire pipeline and teams that are always ready minimise the risk of failures and guarantee an immediate response in different scenarios. After Cyclone Idai destroyed much of the Beira area in 2019, CPMZ was able to resume operations in just 10 days.

Our operations are fully certified at the environmental and energy level, in accordance with the applicable legal requirements.

Learn more about our history

  • Mr. Ken Frederick Scheepers, ex-General Manager and Board member of CPMZ, and Mr. John Neville, ex-Operations Manager

  • Soil compacting in the pipeline trench after repair operations

  • Workers at the CPMZ terminal in Feruka (Mutare, Zimbabwe)

  • Welded pipe about to be placed in the trench (Baixa do Púnguè, 2015)

  • Routine training for pipeline welders at Maforga

  • Pumping command and monitoring console at the CPMZ terminal in Feruka

  • Workers removing the pipeline cleaning PIG on the reception ramp of the Maforga platform

  • Instrument calibration in the outflow section of the Maforga station

  • Beira station workers at the northern entrance to the pumping platform

  • Maforga station workers at the southern entrance to the pumping platform

  • Beira station manifold

  • Distributed control system panel at the Feruka terminal, in Zimbabwe

Expanding operations

Expanding the installed capacity of the pipeline is a priority goal for CPMZ and is based on our shared strategic vision with the Zimbabwean Government: to make the Beira-Harare pipeline the preferred transporter of refined products for the Southern African hinterland. Realising this vision is essential for CPMZ’s performance, the competitiveness of the hinterland, and generating more added value for the Mozambican economy.

From 1.6 to over 5 million cubic metres of installed capacity. Find out how our operations are progressing with a multi-phase a gradual expansion project:

Initial capacity: 1.6 million m3/year

 

Phase 0
2014
Applying a drag-reducing agent (DRA) on the inside of the pipeline to speed up the flow of fuel in the pipeline.
Installed capacity: 2 million m3/year

Phase 1
In progress: 2018-2022
Expanding capacity through renovation of the pumping platforms and control rooms at Beira and Maforga stations. New platforms coming online in 2023.
Installed capacity: 3 million m3/year

Phase 2
Already in planning
Incorporating two new satellite stations into CPMZ’s integrated pumping infrastructure.
Installed capacity: 5 million m3/year

Additional phase
Replacing the current 10-inch pipe with a larger pipe in a scenario where demand exceeds 5 million m3/year. The way CPMZ’s infrastructure is implemented allows this replacement to be done simply and without having to stop pumping operations.
Installed capacity: above 5 million m3/year.

Find out more about our strategic vision

  • Support pillars for the roof of the new pumping platform at Beira

  • Panoramic view of the Maforga pumping station in Manica

  • Aerial view of the work to install pipes at the new Maforga platform in Manica

  • Topographical study for the layout of the infrastructure of the new Maforga platform

  • Pipes and valves for installing the pipe system at the new Maforga platform

Serial pumping

CPMZ has been working on a new serial pumping project since 2022 in cooperation with PZL, the company that operates the Feruka-Harare pipeline. The goal is to establish an interconnection between the CPMZ pipeline (Beira-Feruka) and the PZL pipeline (Feruka-Harare) as if they were one single infrastructure.

The new Beira-Harare arrangement will make it possible to have greater flexibility for transport operations by responding more efficiently to different needs: the fuel injected at the port of Beira can be unloaded directly in Harare, directly in Feruka, or have a mixed-distribution model (part of the product stays in the Feruka tanks and part is transported to Harare).

Just like the installed capacity expansion project, the serial pumping project will help realise CPMZ’s strategic vision and improve the supply from Beira to the hinterland via Harare.

Future arrangement of the pipeline in a serial pumping system with the CPMZ-PZL interconnection.