Govt to ready EACOP license in three months after receipt of application

KAMPALA– The East African Crude Oil Pipeline Company [ EACOP ] Limited, the firm spearheading the development of Uganda’s crude oil export pipeline, has presented its application to government for a construction license that should be processed within three months.

The much-needed construction license will enable the company to kick start the development of the 1,4443km, 24-inch diameter heated and buried crude oil pipeline that will start from Kabaale, Hoima in western Uganda to Chongoleani, Tanga in Tanzania.

While applying for a license for what will be the longest heat traced pipeline in the world, to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development days ago, EACOP’s General Manager Martin Tiffen, said all is set for the work to commence. Also present were John Bosco Habumugisha, the EACOP Deputy General Manager, and Lawrence Ssempija-Compliance Lead, Uganda.

Upon receipt of the application early this month, Honey Malinga, the Acting Director for Petroleum at the Ministry pledged continued government support to ensure seamless implementation of EACOP. He said the application would be processed in 180 days [about three months].

“I want to thank the company [EACOP Limited] for preparing the application for the construction license…the Ministry will process the application in accordance with the law, and we look forward to timely commencement of the pipeline construction,” Malinga said.

He urged the company executives to pay attention and swiftly address the issues raised from time to time by the government, communities, local leadership, and other stakeholders.

The Inter-Governmental Agreement [IGA] for the crude oil pipeline was signed in May 2017. The Front-End Engineering Design [FEED] for the EACOP was carried out and approved by the Petroleum Authority of Uganda in October 2020.

The Environmental and Social Impact Assessment [ESIA] studies for the EACOP were approved, and the National Environmental Management Authority [NEMA] issued a certificate in December 2020.

The licensed upstream oil companies are leading the development of the pipeline in Uganda. TotalEnergies [62 percent shares], China National Offshore Oil Corporation  [CNOOC] Uganda [8 percent] Uganda National Oil Company [UNOC], with 15 percent, and Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation [TPDC] retains 15 percent.

The shareholders announced a Final Investment Decision [FID] in February 2022, signifying EACOP Limited’s commitment to financing the project.

Plans are in advanced stages to secure the land requirements for the EACOP in Uganda-comprised of construction camps covering 172 acres; pipeline Right of Way [RoW] and orphan land covering 2, 745 acres; and feeder roads covering 182 acres.

The pipeline traverses 296km within Uganda through 10 districts of Hoima, Kikuube, Kakumiro, Kyankwanzi, Mubende, Gomba, Sembabule, Lwengo, Rakai, and Kyotera. In Tanzania, It traverses 1,147km across eight regions-Kagera, Geita, Shinyanga, Tabora, Singida, Dodoma, Manyara, and Tanga.

The Marine Export Storage Terminal and the Load-out Facility will be north of Tanga port over the Chongoleani peninsula, Tanzania.

According to Solomon Muyita, Principal Communications Officer in the Ministry of Energy, The project will comply with Ugandan and Tanzanian national legislations and international requirements. The development of this pipeline will also open another route for the country, and other regional partners [Eastern DR Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan], to access the East African Coast.

Despite the latest development, groups of local and international environmental activists have mounted a sustained campaign against the development of EACOP. They hope to stop the country from developing its petroleum resources through their campaigns aimed at what they say saving the biodiversity in the oil areas.

The most recent is when Polish climate activist, Dominika Lasota aggressively demanded that Emmanuel Macron, President of France, denounces the EACOP project partially funded by TotalEnergies, a subsidiary of TotalEnergies SA.

In March 2022, another group of activists met with Pope Francis at the Vatican to ask for his support in their campaign to stop the construction of the EACOP. Earlier in March 2020, they sought orders from French courts to halt the Uganda oil project.

The same or similar groups have unsuccessfully sought the same orders in the Arusha-based East African Court of Justice.

A similar case was lodged in the High Court of Uganda in 2019 and the latest was registered in 2021 where a group from the US applied to the High court of Uganda where they claimed that if ruled in their favour, it could save Uganda and Tanzania from an environmental disaster.

In a ruling delivered on May 4, 2022, the High court dismissed their baseless application on ground that the applicants are biased and have previously declared very biased positions against the Uganda oil project.

The deputy speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa also told the environmental activists that they would not be able to frustrate the project, he said would be one of those to develop the country fast.

Uganda has approximately 6.5 billion barrels of oil reserves, with at least 1.4 billion estimated to be economically recoverable.  French firm Total, S.A., Chinese firm CNOOC, and have production licenses to develop Uganda’s oil reserves for export.  In addition to producing and exporting crude oil, Uganda plans to build a refinery to produce petroleum products for the domestic and EAC markets.

https://thecooperator.news/eacop-uganda-tanzania-sign-security-pact/

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