The Lake Albert Development Project partners have announced the final investment decision and launch of the US $10bn project.
This was revealed during a ceremony held in Kampala, in the presence of Yoweri Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda, Philip Mpango, Vice-President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies, and representatives of the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) and the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC).
Lake Albert Development Project
The Lake Albert development project encompasses the Tilenga and Kingfisher upstream oil projects in Uganda and the construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) in Uganda and Tanzania. The Tilenga project, operated by TotalEnergies, and the Kingfisher project, operated by CNOOC are expected to start producing in 2025 and reach a cumulative plateau production of 230,000 barrels per day. The upstream partners are TotalEnergies (56.67%), CNOOC (28.33%) and UNOC (15%). Following its launch, production from the oil fields in Uganda will be transported to the port of Tanga in Tanzania through the EACOP cross-border pipeline, whose shareholders are TotalEnergies (62%), UNOC (15%), TPDC (15%) and CNOOC (8%).
All partners are committed to implementing these projects in an exemplary manner, taking into consideration the environmental and biodiversity stakes, as well as the rights of the concerned communities. This is in accordance with the stringent performance standards of the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Contextually, the land acquisition program is currently underway, and it incorporates areas of improvement identified by independent third-party reviews performed after the first phase of the program led in 2018-2019.
Furthermore, as part of the project implementation process, TotalEnergies is committed to putting in action plans that will have a net positive impact on biodiversity. In close liaison with the authorities and stakeholders concerned with nature conservation in Uganda and Tanzania, these plans will be implemented in collaboration with neighbouring communities, under the supervision of an independent institution.
Read: Namibia: NamPower Prepares Bidding For the CSP Project in 2022
“The development of Lake Albert resources is a major project for Uganda and Tanzania, and our ambition is to make it an exemplary project in terms of shared prosperity and sustainable development. We are fully aware of the important social and environmental challenges it represents. We will pay particular attention to using local skills, developing them through training programs, and boosting the local industrial sector in order to maximize the positive local return of this project. With today’s signing of a framework agreement on renewable energy, we are laying the foundation to implement our multi-energy strategy in Uganda and contribute to people’s access to energy,” said Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies.
This oil development is in line with TotalEnergies’ strategy of only approving new projects if they are low-cost and low emissions. In particular, the design of the facilities incorporates several measures to limit greenhouse gas emissions well below 20 kg CO2eq/boe, including the extraction of Liquefied Petroleum Gas for use in regional markets as a substitute for burning biomass, and the solarization of the EACOP pipeline.
To that effect, TotalEnergies and the Ministry of Energy and Minerals – Uganda signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the development of renewable energy, with the objective of developing 1 GW of installed capacity, promoting access to electricity and clean energy, and supporting national climate change objectives through the deployment of carbon footprint reduction projects.
