Construction plans are already in progress, and work on the line expected to start in August, 2006. The venture is a private partnership project in which 51% will be floated to the private sector with the two governments sharing the remaining ratio. The pipeline will have a capacity of 220,000li/hr, and will replace road tankers as the method of transportation of oil products from Kenya to Uganda, Rwanda, and eastern Congo. At a two-day pre-bid conference in mid-August for pre-qualified bidders, held in Kampala, the plan for construction was agreed by officials from the Kenya Pipeline Co (KPC) and the ministries of Energy and Finance of Kenya and Uganda. The conference was organized by the Joint Coordinating Commission (JCC) on the oil pipeline extension project, who said that bids for construction, etc., would be invited in October 2005. Eight of the 12 prequalified construction companies attended the meeting: Indian Oil Corporation, Petroleum India International, China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Co, Petronet EA Consortium, Tamoil East Africa, Zakhem Construction Kenya Ltd, MISA/Shell, and Energem Petroleum Corporation. Transporting petroleum products via the pipeline is expected to be significantly cheaper than the current regime.Oil prices in landlocked Uganda are high, partly because of high taxes, but mainly because of high road transport costs from Mombasa and Dar es Salaam. The European Investment Bank funded the first study on the viability of the pipeline, the report for which was submitted in 1999. Three ways of implementing the project were considered: joint-government development, government/private-sector, and sole private-sector development. It was decided that the project be given to the private sector, and Nexant Ltd, the British engineering consultancy who won the tender to undertake the final feasibility study of the pipeline, prepared an interim report for the Ugandan government. As of 1998, Kenya was the largest oil consumer in the region, and KPC is one of the major transporters of petroleum products in the region. Its existing pipeline runs from Mombasa to Nairobi, and extends to Eldoret and Kisumu via Nakuru. KPC's managing director George Okungu has said that the extension of the oil pipeline from Eldoret to the neighbouring countries will address dumping of export products, and generate mutual benefits from increased efficiency in transportation of oil products. "Dumping of products meant for export has been a challenge to the governments. The regional governments should continue to formulate and enforce policies aimed at curbing these malpractices engaged in by some oil companies and their agents," Mr Okungu said. "The governments should also consider strengthening the existing framework for self-regulation by players in the industry," he continued, calling up on regional bodies such as the New Partnership for Africa's Development, the East African Community, and the Common Market for East and Southern Africa to mobilize their resources and support oil distribution infrastructure development.