“We don’t believe we are going to energy transition now, not when even countries like the UK are awarding exploration licences. At UNOC, we want to see how other countries are coping with the transition.”
“The critiques are continuing so we don’t move,” Nankabirwa said. “I’m not worried, I am just annoyed”, the minister said in reference to criticism from environmental NGOs. “Uganda is a sovereign state, you cannot dictate to us. I pray I don’t come across such people.”
There is “positive discrimination for the communities hosting the operations. At the peak it is expected that about 160,000 people will be employed. Out of these 14,000 persons will be directly employed in the oil and gas sector”, he said.
Demonstrators have declared today a “global day of action” to stop EACOP, which will run from west Uganda to a port in Tanzania.
Discussions are “advanced” for syndicated tranches of loans from African, Asian and Chinese lenders, among others, for the conduit that will carry 216,000 barrels of oil a day from Ugandan fields for export, she said.
The minister said the insurance issue was the last real barrier to EACOP. “The rest was politics”, she said.
The NGOs raised concerns beyond drilling, though. They predicted more than 2,000 truck trips per day may take place during work.
The ministry had expected a final investment decision (FID) on the $4.5 billion Hoima facility by the end of June. The aim was for the facility to be ready for first oil from the Lake Albert fields in late 2025.
“Many financial institutions have refused to underwrite this project and if TotalEnergies backs off, the government of Uganda would have a hard time funding this project, so we can win."
Total has said that development of Tilenga will be limited to less than 1% of park land.
The NGO called on EACOP’s other two financial advisors, Standard Bank and the International Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), to drop the project.
A group of nonprofits is pushing Barclays Plc to retract an analyst research note they claim amounts to a “whitewash” of the environmental and social impact of an African oil pipeline being developed by companies including TotalEnergies SE.
While the court found against them, the six organisations appear determined to continue their legal fight. “We will continue to work harder than ever in the courts and elsewhere”, Kamugisha said.
"We urge Standard Bank and SMBC to reconsider their involvement in the East African Crude Oil Pipeline,” said Baraka Lenga, climate change activist based in Tanzania.
The complaint alleges Marsh failed to carry out adequate due diligence on the controversial pipeline, which will run from Uganda's west to the port of Tanga, in Tanzania.
“I told [the European Parliament] to go to hell!” Museveni said. “But I didn’t hear the French government making any trouble.”
Kingfisher will have around 20 production wells and 11 water injection wells, from four pads.
The plan involves developing 2 GW of renewable energy in Angola, 1 GW in Uganda and 2 GW in Zambia. The agreement with Zambia set out plans to work on wind, solar and hydropower.
“There have not been any compulsory purchases of land so far,” EACOP managing director Martin Tiffen said, speaking earlier this week.
Uganda’s cabinet has approved licences for Uganda National Oil Co. (UNOC) and Australia’s DGR Global, with an initial period of two years.
East Africa-focused financial services provider Britam Holdings has opted out of insuring a controversial pipeline project – in a move that has been hailed by opponents.
Activists at COP27 have accosted Patrick Pouyanné, CEO of TotalEnergies, to demand answers about “bloody money” from the company’s Russian operations.
CNOOC Uganda has erected the Kingfisher rig on location, in Uganda’s western Lake Albert, as drilling plans move ahead.
African states must defend the use of fossil fuels at the soon starting COP27, in Egypt, African Energy Chamber’s NJ Ayuk has said.
Developing oil and gas projects can be done in an environmentally sound fashion and can play a critical role in changing a country’s finances, according to Uganda National Oil Co. (UNOC) CEO Proscovia Nabbanja.