The East African Crude Oil Pipeline, a 1,443-kilometre heated pipeline designed to transport crude oil from Uganda’s Lake Albert oilfields to the Tanzanian port of Tanga, has entered an intensive construction phase. Led by TotalEnergies, the China National Offshore Oil Corporation, and the state oil companies of Uganda and Tanzania, the project has begun receiving insulated line pipes at its coating plant in Nzega.
Despite facing sustained campaigns from global environmental groups and the withdrawal of several Western financial institutions, project developers have secured alternative financing and are advancing civil works to meet the target for first commercial oil flows.
The economic stakes are immense for East Africa, with the pipeline expected to unlock billions of dollars in foreign direct investment and establish Uganda as a significant regional oil producer. For Tanzania, transit fees and port activity in Tanga are projected to generate long-term fiscal revenues and boost local maritime services. The project has also become a focal point for wider debates on Africa’s right to develop its fossil fuel resources, with developers increasingly turning to alternative international partners to fund the infrastructure as some Western lenders have stepped back.
Source: The East African