Uganda Approves Construction Licence For Crude Pipeline

Uganda has approved an application by a subsidiary of TotalEnergies to construct a $3.5bn oil pipeline that will be a key step to develop the East African country's oilfields according to Reuters.

• The cabinet approved the application to construct the pipeline by the East African Crude Oil Pipeline Company Ltd (EACOP) on Monday, Godfrey Kabbyanga, the state minister for information said.
• Commercial petroleum production in the region has been delayed for nearly two decades because of a lack of infrastructure and disagreements between the government and oil companies.
• The planned pipeline will run from landlocked Uganda's oilfields in the country's west to a port on Tanzania's Indian Ocean coast.
• Uganda discovered crude oil reserves in fields near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2006 but disagreements between the government and oil firms over taxes and development strategy have stymied attempts to develop them.
• Government geologists estimate that the country's gross reserves stand at 6bn barrels while recoverable oil is seen at 1.4bn barrels.