The long wait for Uganda’s first commercial oil exports is entering a new phase as the East African Crude Oil Pipeline moves from major construction works towards testing the systems that will eventually carry crude to the international market.
The latest progress was confirmed during a tour of Pump Station One at Kabaale in Hoima District, where Energy and Mineral Development Minister Dr Monica Musenero inspected the infrastructure that will serve as the starting point of the 1,443-kilometre heated pipeline.
EACOP Deputy Managing Director John Bosco Habumugisha said the project is now 92 per cent complete, with commissioning and testing being conducted alongside the remaining construction works.
“The EACOP project has now reached 92% completion, bringing us closer to operational readiness as Uganda prepares for first oil,” Habumugisha said.
The change is significant. While several elements of the wider project are still being completed, EACOP is increasingly concentrating on whether its critical operating systems can safely receive and move crude.
Among the systems undergoing attention are Pump Station One, the pipeline’s fibre-optic communications infrastructure and its heating system.
The heating system is particularly important because Uganda’s crude requires controlled temperatures to remain suitable for transportation through the long pipeline route.
“The heating system is a critical component of EACOP. It will enable us to transport Uganda’s crude safely and efficiently through the pipeline from Hoima to the Tanzanian coast,” Habumugisha said.
From Hoima to the Indian Ocean
Pump Station One represents kilometre zero of the pipeline, which will connect Uganda’s oil fields in Hoima to the Chongoleani Marine Storage Terminal near Tanzania’s Port of Tanga.
The pipeline will run for 296 kilometres inside Uganda before crossing 1,147 kilometres of Tanzanian territory.
Once production begins at the Kingfisher and Tilenga oil projects, crude will enter the EACOP system in Hoima and begin its journey towards the Tanzanian coast.
At Chongoleani, the crude will be stored before being loaded for export to international markets.
Habumugisha said some works still required to reach 100 per cent completion are not prerequisites for the pipeline to begin receiving crude.
These include administrative facilities, restoration works and some drainage infrastructure.
“It is important to note that some of the activities required to achieve 100% completion of the wider project … are not necessarily critical to the pipeline’s ability to begin receiving crude oil,” he said.
That distinction places greater emphasis on operational readiness rather than the headline construction-completion percentage as Uganda approaches first oil.
Oil project faces climate scrutiny
For Musenero, however, the pipeline represents more than an infrastructure project. She described Uganda’s oil and gas development as an opportunity to generate economic, technological and social benefits extending beyond crude production.
“I am happy to visit one of the projects that is set to positively impact millions of Ugandans and generations to come in terms of social, technological and economic transformation,” she said.
But Uganda’s oil ambitions continue to unfold against an increasingly contentious global debate over fossil fuels and climate change.
Musenero acknowledged that the country is developing its petroleum resources at a time when governments and environmental campaigners are pushing for reduced dependence on fossil fuels.
“Our oil is coming at a time when there are global campaigns against oil,” she said.
She questioned the extent to which Uganda should bear the burden of global efforts to move away from petroleum when oil and petroleum products remain embedded in transportation and industrial activity worldwide.
“There is no country that has stopped using petroleum products,” she said, pointing to continued use of fuel by aircraft, vehicles and industries.
Uganda, she said, intends to pursue oil development while working towards lower-carbon production and using petroleum revenues to support investment in cleaner energy.
“Uganda contributes very minimally to global emissions, yet we are deliberately working towards producing a carbon-neutral barrel,” Musenero said.
The bigger test: what oil leaves behind
The minister also placed the emphasis on what happens beyond the pipeline and oil fields.
For Uganda, she argued, the success of the petroleum sector should not be measured solely by barrels produced or crude exported, but by whether the industry creates lasting economic opportunities for Ugandans.
“We must transform the oil and gas sector beyond the production of oil itself,” Musenero said.
She called for stronger linkages between the petroleum industry and other sectors of the economy so that oil investment can stimulate local manufacturing, services and wider value chains.
The objective, she said, is to ensure that Ugandans benefit through employment, enterprise and economic activity rather than seeing the oil industry operate as an isolated enclave.
With EACOP now deep into testing and commissioning, Uganda’s oil story is therefore moving beyond the question of whether the pipeline will be built.
The immediate question is whether the systems can be brought safely into operation — and whether the economic transformation promised alongside Uganda’s oil wealth can extend far beyond the pipeline itself.
