TotalEnergies and CNOOC have announced the final investment decision for the Lake Albert Development project in Uganda. French energy giant TotalEnergies and project partner China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) have announced the Final Investment Decision (FID) for the Lake Albert Development project in Uganda.
The announcement of the FID follows a deal signed with the Ugandan and Tanzanian governments. The total investment is expected to be around $10 billion.
Following the discovery of crude oil reserves in the Lake Albert Rift Basin in 2006 and 2009 by Tullow Oil, as well as the considerable efforts made by Heritage Oil to open up the Albert and Kingfisher assets, Uganda has been focused on developing domestic production capacity in the country.
In 2020, Tullow sold its assets to TotalEnergies, with the French company now working in collaboration with the CNOOC to grow the entire energy value chain.
The Lake Albert Development will be instrumental in positioning both Uganda and Tanzania as competitive hydrocarbon markets.
Comprising the Tilenga and Kingfisher upstream projects – which are set to start producing 190,000 and 40,000 barrels per day in 2025, respectively – as well as the construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), the development will enable Uganda to fully monetize its 1.4 billion barrels of recoverable oil resources while providing export opportunities through Tanzania.
Representing a 900-mile, 216,000 bpd export pipeline, the EACOP will connect landlocked Uganda with international markets, bringing in critical foreign expenditure for the country.
"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," stated Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies.
"We will pay particular attention to using local skills, to develop them through training programs, to boost the local industrial sector to maximize the positive local return of this project," Pouyanné added.
With Uganda representing one of Africa’s most lucrative emerging markets, the FID marks a milestone in the country’s ambition to become a crude oil producer and exporter. Backed by a committed national oil company, the Ugandan National Oil Company (UNOC), the country is poised to undergo significant energy and economic growth.
TotalEnergies said that it was committed to implementing action plans that will have a net positive impact on biodiversity as part of the implementation of these projects. […]
