The partners of the Lake Albert development project have reached the final agreements needed to launch the project. Total, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) and Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) have signed the shareholders agreement of EACOP and the tariff and transportation agreement between EACOP and the Lake Albert oil shippers.
This project includes the development of two upstream oil projects in Uganda, both owned by Total (56.67%), CNOOC (28.33%) and Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC, 15%): Tilenga (operated by Total) and Kingfisher (operated CNOOC). The fields were discovered in 2006 and are expected to reach a production level of around 230,000 bbl/d at plateau. The Lake Albert development project also includes the construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) in Uganda and Tanzania, which will enable to export the production of the two oil fields in Uganda to the port of Tanga in Tanzania. The EACOP’ shareholders are Total, UNOC, TPDC and CNOOC. Construction is expected to start in 2021 and first oil export is scheduled for 2025.
The pipeline project was initially announced in September 2017 and the stake sales had been under negotiations since January 2007. Because of disagreements with Ugandan authorities, Total suspended the construction of the pipeline in September 2019. In November 2020, Tullow Oil completed the sale of the company's entire interests in Blocks 1, 1A, 2 and 3A in Uganda and of the proposed EACOP system to Total. China’s CNOOC owns a 33.3% stake in the project.