Page 11 - DMEA Week 24 2022

DMEA COMPANIES DMEA

TotalEnergies launches oil-

linked biodiversity programme

AFRICA TOTALENERGIES EP Uganda, a subsidiary of and the Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU).
the French major TotalEnergies, has launched a He did not say how much the company had
biodiversity programme that aims to conserve budgeted for the biodiversity initiative but
sensitive ecosystems in and around Murchison stressed that TotalEnergies was ready to spend
Falls, a conservation area that environmental what was necessary to achieve its goal.
activists have described as extremely vulnerable NEMA executive director Dr. Akankwasa
to oil development operations. Barirega described the Tilenga programme as a
Philippe Groueix, the general manager of pilot project for biodiversity in connection with
TotalEnergies EP Uganda, unveiled the initi- oil development.
ative – known as the Tilenga biodiversity pro- “We believe this will be a litmus test in the
gramme, after the company’s Tilenga oilfields on implementation of the NEMA Act 2019. We look
the shores of Lake Albert – last week. According forward to having a verifiable and measurable
to a report from NilePost, Groueix stressed his programme that will include compensation for
company’s commitment to preserving biodiver- the land lost or taken away from conservation,”
sity and minimising the environmental impact he said.
of its work. “As regulators, we shall ensure we monitor
“TotalEnergies believe that the biodiversity this programme effectively to have measurable
sector is important for Uganda for the future,” he outcomes to demonstrate the net gain.”
said. “There is legitimate fear that our activities Meanwhile, Dr. Joseph Kobusheshe, PAU’s
in the oil sector will have an impact on biodiver- director for environment, health, safety and
sity, and we are here to transform that fear and security, said the biodiversity programme gave
demonstrate it is an opportunity we can use to the Ugandan government a means of ensuring
preserve nature. We will positively contribute by that the country’s citizens actually drew benefit
making sure nature will be in a better situation from the development of crude oil resources.
compared to what it was before the oil project.” “With respect to oil and gas ... the Petroleum
He continued: “We are mindful of the sensi- Authority of Uganda want to ensure the people
tive context within which we are undertaking our are left in a better position than when oil started,”
activities. We have thus made a commitment to he was quoted as saying by Nile Post.
ensure that we implement action plans designed Tilenga is the main upstream component of
to produce net positive impact on biodiversity. the Lake Albert Development Project (LADP), a
The biodiversity programme will ensure a sus- $10bn initiative that aims to monetise Uganda’s
tainable approach in working with community crude oil resources. TotalEnergies aims to launch
towards protecting and conserving the ecologi- production at the Tilenga oilfields in 2025 and
cally rich area in and around the Murchison Falls will eventually see yields top 200,000 barrels
Conservation Area.” per day (bpd). It will export most of what it pro-
Groueix went on to say that TotalEnergies duces via the midstream component of LADP
would be working with existing local agencies – namely, the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline
to implement the programme, including the (EACOP), a 1,443-km conduit running from
Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), the National Hoima in western Uganda to Tanga, a port on
Environment Management Authority (NEMA) Tanzania’s Indian Ocean coast.™

Week 24 16•June•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P11