Total expects to start oil production from its Tilenga oil field in Uganda by 2021 at the earliest instead of the previous deadline of 2020. The group will make its final investment decision (FID) on the project in 2018 and production will start about 36 months after the FID. The Chinese oil and gas group CNOOC also targets first oil in 2021.
Uganda is currently estimated to hold about 2.6 - 6.5 Gboe of hydrocarbon deposits in the Albertine rift basin. The production start has been repeatedly delayed by disagreements with field operators such as CNOOC, Total and Tullow Oil over taxes, development strategy and the lack of infrastructure (export pipeline, refinery).
Once produced, the oil will be processed in the 60,000 bbl/d Albertine Graben refinery project (Kabaale Phase-1, located near Hoima on the shores of lake Albert), which will be built by the Albertine Graben Refinery Consortium (AGRC, including GE's subsidiary Nuovo Pignone International, Saipem, Laitra and Yatra Ventures). Most of the refinery's production would be sent to Uganda's capital Kampala via pipeline.