Due to start operating in 2027, the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) will be the world’s longest heated oil pipeline, stretching 1,443 kilometres (897 miles) underground from Tilenga and Kingfisher, the first two oil sites in landlocked Uganda, to the Tanzanian port of Tanga on the Indian Ocean coast.
Tilenga, on the northeastern shore of Lake Albert, will have 426 wells operated by TotalEnergies for the next 20 years.
The French giant — which faces a court ruling Thursday in a high-stakes climate trial in France — also holds shares in Kingfisher, some 30 wells on the southeastern shore of the lake operated by the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).
Uganda’s oil is particularly viscous and must be kept at 50C to be transported through the pipeline, which will be able to transport up to 246,000 barrels per day, with a storage terminal and loading facility at Tanga.
As of May, the project was 84-percent complete, according to its consortium, comprising TotalEnergies (62-percent stake), Uganda National Oil Company and Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (15 percent each), and CNOOC (8 percent).
– ‘Carbon bomb’ –
Climate scientists and environmentalist groups have raised many concerns.
The Climate Accountability Institute has described the project as a “carbon bomb” that would unleash 379 million tonnes of climate-heating pollution over its lifetime.
Around 100 Tilenga wells are located in Uganda’s largest and oldest national park, Murchison Falls, and there are fears of leaks from the pipeline that crosses fragile and highly biodiverse ecosystems and wildlife migration routes.
Earth Insight, an NGO, said it threatens freshwater systems, including 158 Ugandan wetlands, 11 rivers, 44 protected areas and seven key biodiversity areas.
Meanwhile, the Tanzanian storage and loading areas are located near marine protected areas.
TotalEnergies says “strict measures have been taken to avoid, mitigate and offset” the project’s impact on local environments, with efforts to restore thousands of hectares of forest and wetlands and increase biodiversity in affected areas.
– Affected communities –
More than 100,000 people have been displaced by the project, with many criticising limited transparency and insufficient or slow compensation, according to NGOs.
TotalEnergies says it has compensated 99 percent of households forced to relocate and that the “vast majority” of others will reclaim their land once construction is complete, while generating nearly 80,000 direct and indirect local jobs.
Opponents of the project say locals have frequently gone to court over “unjust compensation” and face intimidation and arrest by Ugandan and Tanzanian authorities, known for violent repression of dissent.
– Legal battles –
Legal battles have been raging in France for years.
Thursday’s ruling does not relate specifically to Tilenga-EACOP. It is a civil case brought by NGOs and French cities including Paris, demanding that TotalEnergies align its business with global warming targets under the 2015 Paris Agreement.
In 2019, several NGOs accused the Tilenga-EACOP project of breaching France’s Corporate Duty of Vigilance Law, which requires companies to avoid grave harm to human rights and the environment. It was dismissed on technical grounds in 2023.
Another group of NGOS, alongside 26 Ugandan community members, have separately sued for damages related to land expropriation, flooding, free speech violations and other issues. The case is due to be heard in February 2027.
TotalEnergies also faces a criminal case by NGOs accusing it of “globocide”.
Four African groups also filed a suit against the project at the East African Court of Justice, but it was dismissed in November on procedural grounds.
