Uganda has completed about three-quarters of a $5 billion pipeline critical for exporting crude oil from its fields through neighbouring Tanzania, the country’s state-run sector regulator said on Wednesday.
After nearly two decades of delays, Uganda now targets the second half of next year to begin production from oilfields in its Albertine Rift Basin in the west, Reuters reported.
The 1,443-kilometer (897-mile) East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) must be finished before production starts at the $15 billion oil project operated by France’s TotalEnergies and China’s CNOOC.
The pipeline, which will connect Uganda’s oilfields to Tanzania’s Tanga port on the Indian Ocean, has been described as the world’s longest electrically heated crude pipeline.
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Ernest Rubondo, chief executive of the Uganda Petroleum Authority, said in a statement that all the pipes for the project have been delivered to various stations along the EACOP route.
To date, at least $3.3 billion has been invested in the pipeline, which is 62% owned by TotalEnergies. Other shareholders include state-owned petroleum firms in Uganda and Tanzania, as well as CNOOC.
Rubondo added that over $4 billion is being invested across Uganda’s petroleum sector, including in preparation for production at the Kingfisher and Tilenga discoveries between 2025 and 2027.
Drilling and associated development activity is 60% complete at Tilenga and 74% complete at Kingfisher, he said.
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Image Credit: CNBC Africa
