Minister: Uganda to launch longest heated oil pipeline by 2027
The world’s longest heated oil pipeline, the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), is “still viable” despite funding delays caused by activist protests, with first deliveries expected by 2027.
Construction of the pipeline began in 2017, and it will be almost 1,500 km long. The pipeline will run from two fields on the shores of Lake Albert through Uganda and Tanzania to the port of Tanga. Part of the EACOP will pass through national parks and reserves, which has caused active opposition from environmentalists and led to a temporary halt in funding.
“The construction of the East African oil pipeline is ongoing. We have invested a lot of money in exploration and in critical infrastructure. We are now starting drilling <…> If it were not for the injustice that was done to the pipeline, we would be talking about seeing first oil in 2025. But because of the campaigns against it, we will not see first oil next year. So we are counting on 2026, 2027,” Ugandan Energy Minister Ruth Nankabirwa said on the sidelines of the COP29 summit.
