On 1st February 2022, the partners of the Lake Albert Crudo Oil Project announced the final investment decision (FID) and the launch of this major project representing a total investment of approximately USD 10 billion.
The Lake Albert Project encompasses the Tilenga and Kingfisher upstream oil projects in Uganda, and the construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) in Uganda and Tanzania.
Production from the oil fields in Uganda will be transported to the port of Tanga in Tanzania through the EACOP cross-border pipeline, whose shareholders are TotalEnergies (62%), the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) (15%), the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) (15%), and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) (8%).
The ceremony was held in Kampala and saw the presence of Yoweri Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda, Philip Mpango, Vice-President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies, and representatives of CNOOC, UNOC, and TPDC.
Commenting on the landmark agreement, Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies said: “The development of Lake Albert resources is a major project for Uganda and Tanzania, and our ambition is to make it an exemplary project in terms of shared prosperity and sustainable development. We are fully aware of the important social and environmental challenges it represents. We will pay particular attention to using local skills, developing them through training programs, boosting the local industrial sector in order to maximize the positive local return of this project. With today’s signing of a framework agreement on renewable energy, we are laying the foundation to implement our multi-energy strategy in Uganda and contribute to people’s access to energy.“
For his part, Vice-President Mpango explained that the Government of Tanzania has already paid compensation to citizens living in areas where the project passes through, as well as provided TZS 259.96 billion TPDC for participating in the project.
In addition, he urged the private sector to cooperate with the international partners in this project by providing various services and asked international partners to give such opportunities for local professionals especially young people.
For his part, Ugandan President Museveni said the construction of the Hoima Crude Oil Pipeline will be a lifeline for the East African Community, particularly Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP)
EACOP is a 1,445 km long oil pipeline that will transport crude oil from Uganda’s Lake Albert oil fields to the Tanzanian port of Tanga on the Indian Ocean. 1,115 km will pass through Tanzania.
The project is expected to cost USD 3.5 Billion and create 10,000 jobs during construction and is planned to have a capacity of 216,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Uganda will pay Tanzania USD 12.20 for every barrel flowing through the pipeline.
