Kampala, September 11, 2020 – During a meeting held between President Yoweri Museveni and Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of Total, the Government of Uganda and Total have reached an agreement on the conditions of entry of the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) in the project as well as on the Host Government Agreement (HGA) which will govern the export pipeline project in Uganda.
“We have today reached major milestones which pave the way to the Final Investment Decision in the coming months. We now look forward to concluding a similar HGA with the Government of Tanzania and to completing the tendering process for all major engineering, procurement, and construction contracts.” expressed Pierre Jessua, Managing Director of Total E&P Uganda.
The conditions are set for the ramp-up of project activities and in particular, we will resume the land acquisition activities in Uganda while respecting the highest human rights standards. Total E&P Uganda reiterates its willingness to pursue a constructive dialog with the communities and NGOs regarding all project activities.
“I congratulate Total upon concluding this agreement which moves us closer to the production of crude oil in Uganda. It has taken long but I want to assure Ugandans that this was deliberate. We have gone through every item,” President Museveni wrote on social media shortly after the signing of the agreement.
“Uganda is a rich country, with oil as a small fraction of this wealth. The big part is agriculture, industry, services, and human resource. Oil, however, can be a good spark for transformation,” he added.
“I welcome our partners from France, led by the Total CEO and Chairman, Patrick Pouyanne. I will get in touch with His Excellency John Pombe Magufuli to follow up on Tanzania’s host agreement,” President Museveni said.
About Total in Uganda
Total has been present in Uganda since 1955 through its marketing operations and has 200 service stations countrywide. Total E&P Uganda is an upstream affiliate that is leading the development activities towards production in the Tilenga project area – Exploration Area 1 (EA-1) and Exploration Area 2 North (EA-2N) within the Albertine Region.
About East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP)
Approximately 1.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil was discovered in the Albertine Graben, the basin of Lake Albert, on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The extraction will take place at two oil fields: The Kingfisher field, operated by China National Offshore Oil Corporation Ltd (CNOOC Ltd), and the Tilenga field, operated by Total S.A.
Once extracted, the oil will be partly refined in Uganda to supply the local market and partly exported to the international market via the East African Crude Oil Export Pipeline (EACOP).
The 1,445-kilometer pipeline will transport crude oil south from Uganda for export at the Port of Tanga in Tanzania. If completed, it will be the longest heated pipeline in the world.
Both the extraction sites and the EACOP pose serious environmental and social risks to protected wildlife areas, water sources, and communities throughout Uganda and Tanzania. As such, the project is facing significant local community and civil society resistance.
The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) is a proposed 1,445-kilometer pipeline from Hoima, Uganda to the port of Tanga in Tanzania.
Construction of the pipeline threatens to enable the opening up of critical ecosystems including Murchison Falls National Park to oil extraction.