Uganda: Energy Ministry Hands Over EACOP Construction Licence

Sputink / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The proposed route of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), which will run from Hoima in Uganda to Tanga in Tanzania.
25 January 2023
Nile Post (Kampala)
By Kenneth Kazibwe

President Museveni has witnessed the handover of the licence for the proposed East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development.

This was done on Tuesday as the president launched the spudding process of Uganda's oil in the Kingfisher area in Kikuube district.

The handover was done by the Minister for Energy and Mineral Development, Ruth Nanakabirwa following the grant of the licence that is required to enable EACOP to formally start on the ground construction activities in Uganda as part of the development of the 1,443km, 24-inch diameter insulated and buried crude oil pipeline that will start from Kabaale, Hoima in Uganda to Chongoleani, Tanga in Tanzania.

The license was granted by the ministry, following the application submitted on July, 1, 2022, in compliance and accordance with Section 10 of the Petroleum Act 2013, Regulation 59 of the Petroleum Act 2016, and the East African Crude Oil Pipeline Special Provisions Act 2021 and found satisfactory.

"This marks another step forward for EACOP as it allows the commencement of our construction activities in Uganda upon completion of the ongoing land access process. We are grateful to the government of Uganda for the expedited delivery of the application as per the commitment in the Host Government Agreement (HGA) and the continuous support for implementation of the EACOP project," said Martin Tiffen, the EACOP Ltd Managing Director.

The licensed upstream oil companies are leading the development of this pipeline in Uganda: Total Energies (62% shares), CNOOC Uganda (8%), Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) [15%), and the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) (15%).

The EACOP Managing Director earlier this month said they are three quarters through the land acquisition process that he said was in some parts delayed by the recent Ebola lockdown, especially in Mubende district which is one of the areas where the pipeline is to pass.

"It is a linear process and we have to physically access all the 170 villages along the pipeline but we have teams out in the field for the past eight months and will continue for the next four to five months to complete the exercise. In some places we either had to resolve grievances or do re-evaluation and field visits which have taken longer and in some areas, project affected persons have issues like death of the head of the family and the dependents need letters of administration. All these have delayed us but will soon be done away with," Tiffen said.

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