The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) has reached a key milestone, with project managers confirming 62% overall progress and expressing confidence that Uganda will produce its first oil before the end of 2026.
The announcement was made during a field tour to project sites in Hoima, Buliisa, and Kakumiro districts, where technical staff briefed visiting university professors and media on the pace of construction.
Pump Station One (PS1), located in Buseruka Sub-county, Hoima District, is currently at 67% completion, according to Hadi Watfa, the Lot One Manager for Uganda.
"The concrete and infrastructure progress overall is at 67%. Pipe installation is expected to start in August, with steel structure installation beginning within the next two weeks," Watfa said.
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He added that the pump station will be mechanically complete by June 2026, with pre-commissioning work beginning in March 2026.
Pump Station One is a critical hub for the EACOP network, designed to receive crude oil from both the Tilenga and Kingfisher fields and push it through the 1,443-kilometre heated pipeline to the port of Tanga in Tanzania.
Moses Kirumira, Deputy Construction Manager for the 96-kilometre feeder pipeline from the Tilenga oil fields in Buliisa to Pump Station One, confirmed that 75 kilometres of the line have already been welded, with the remaining work now focused on joint coating, threading, and covering.
"We are on schedule to bury the entire feeder pipeline before the end of this year," Kirumira said.
"A lot of the work is being executed by Ugandan engineers and technicians, which reflects our commitment to national content."
He also noted that the 50-kilometre feeder pipeline from the Kingfisher oil project in Kikuube to Pump Station One is at 95% completion, bringing Uganda significantly closer to its goal of beginning oil production.
Merian Ahabwe, EACOP's National Content Manager, reiterated that the pipeline project--spanning both Uganda and Tanzania--is 62% complete and on track for full delivery by June 2026.
"We are moving on well. Construction of camps to house staff is progressing, and works at all critical stations are aligned with our timeline," Ahabwe said. "Uganda is now well-positioned to achieve first oil before the end of 2026."
The field visit, organised for professors from universities across Uganda, was part of a broader initiative to familiarise academic stakeholders with ongoing developments in the oil and gas sector and demonstrate how locally trained engineers--especially those in civil and chemical disciplines--are contributing to project execution.
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"Students from our universities are applying their classroom knowledge in real-time, and that is something we should be proud of," Ahabwe noted.
She called on educators to continue promoting science and engineering courses, saying the industry holds immense employment potential for Ugandans.
Currently, most staff working on the EACOP project have been residing in hotels. However, construction of permanent camps in Hoima, Buliisa, and Kakumiro is nearing completion, a move expected to boost operational efficiency and improve monitoring as the project enters critical phases.
The $5 billion EACOP project, jointly implemented by TotalEnergies, CNOOC Uganda, the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC), and Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC), is set to be the world's longest heated crude oil pipeline.
Once operational, it will transport crude from Uganda's oil-rich Albertine Graben to global markets via the Indian Ocean.
While the upstream projects--Tilenga operated by TotalEnergies and Kingfisher operated by CNOOC--are progressing steadily, both require the completion of the pipeline and pump stations before production can commence.
With construction activities gathering pace, Uganda's long-awaited journey to becoming an oil-producing nation appears firmly on track.
