The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project developed to transport crude oil from Hoima in Uganda to Tanzania’s port city of Tanga is expected to reach mechanical completion by the end of the second quarter of 2026.
The Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU), in a project update on Wednesday, said the EACOP is currently at 64% completion, with significant progress so far achieved across various phases like civil, mechanical and electrical designs, procurement, and construction.
This development represents a 6% improvement in progress compared to early May 2025, when the pipeline project had reached 58% overall completion.
The project has generated human rights concerns that have contributed to Germany’s Union Investment pulling out its funding support for TotalEnergies in the East African region.
Despite backlash from host communities over environmental issues, the $5 billion project in March secured the first tranche of external financing from a syndicate of regional financial institutions including;
- Afreximbank
- The Standard Bank of South Africa
- Stanbic Bank Uganda
- KCB Bank Uganda
- The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD).
A closer look at the EACOP project
EACOP is the world’s longest heated pipeline project, stretching across 1,443 kilometers of 24-inch insulated pipeline.
It includes six pumping stations, two pressure reduction stations, and a marine export terminal fitted with a 3 MWp solar plant.
Moreover, the pipeline will transport up to 246,000 barrels of oil per day from Uganda’s Tilenga and Kingfisher fields to the Tanzanian port of Tanga for export once completed.
The project is backed by a consortium of shareholders including;
- TotalEnergies (62%)
- Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC – 15%)
- Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC – 15%)
- China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC – 8%).
Over the last 10 years, Uganda has invested over $9 billion to develop its oil and gas sector, with additional $2.81 billion expected to be injected this year to meet the targeted oil production timeline of 2027.
Although Uganda’s oil production timeline has been moved several times previously in the past, the IMF projects that the country’s GDP will see a significant double-digit growth when commercial production starts.
However, PAU says the expected completion date for the pipeline project will align perfectly with the upstream projects at Uganda’s
