Page 16 - DMEA Week 39 2021

DMEA PIPELINES DMEA

Tanzania, Uganda discuss local

content requirements for EACOP

AFRICA GOVERNMENT officials and businessmen ready to provide as much assistance as it can to
from Tanzania and Uganda met earlier this week Ugandan organisations. “To ensure that Ugan-
to discuss local content requirements from the dan companies face no red tape here, ATOGS
East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), which will be a point of contact and will have [a] one-
is slated to be built along a 1,445-km route from stop desk to give them much-needed support,”
Hoima to the Indian Ocean port of Tanga. he said.
Richard Kabonero, Uganda’s ambassador to A number of Tanzanian and Ugandan com-
Tanzania, said after the meeting that the two panies are planning to form joint ventures to bid
countries had agreed to reserve a total of 30 types for EACOP contracts, he added.
of contracts for local companies. This “ring- Abdulrahim also noted that ATOGS had
fence” arrangement will require the EACOP signed an agreement with an affiliated of Nige-
consortium to source 17 types of products exclu- ria’s Stanbic IBTC Bank on funding for local
sively from Tanzanian businesses and another 13 content providers interested in contributing to
types exclusively from Ugandan businesses, he the pipeline project. Some of the local companies
said. that are most interested in bidding for contracts
Together, he said, Tanzanian and Ugandan are facing obstacles because they do not have
companies are on track to provide at least 30% easy access to financing, he explained.
of the building materials and other supplies that According to previous reports, the EACOP
will be used for the pipeline project. A number link will run from oilfields near Hoima, a town in
of Tanzanian firms have already registered in western Uganda, to the Tanzanian port of Tanga.
Uganda in anticipation of bidding for EACOP It will handle 216,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil
contracts and vice versa, he added. from Blocks 1, 1A, 2 and 3A in western Uganda,
Kabonero did not name any of the companies which encompass the Kingfisher and Tilenga
involved, but he was speaking shortly after Abdu fields. These fields are due to begin production
Abdulsamad Abdulrahim, the chairman of the in 2025 and will eventually yield at least 260,000
Association of Tanzania Oil and Gas Service bpd of crude.
Providers (ATOGS), reported that more than 20 The pipeline will be built by a consortium in
Ugandan businesses had registered in Tanzania which TotalEnergies (France) is serving as the
for the project. operator, with a 37.5% stake. The remaining
Abdulrahim called on Tanzania’s govern- equity will be divided between China National
ment to welcome these Ugandan firms, in line Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), with 37.5%;
with its commitments under the host govern- Uganda National Oil Co. (UNOC), with 15%,
ment agreement (HGA) signed earlier this year and Tanzania Petroleum Development Corp.
for the EACOP initiative. Ugandan authorities (TPDC), with 5%.
have already taken concrete steps to encourage Both Total and CNOOC are involved
Tanzanian firms by addressing questions about in developing the oilfields that will provide
work and border permits and by eliminating red throughput for the pipeline; the former company
tape, he said. serves as operator of Tilenga, while the latter is
In the meantime, he remarked, ATOGS is leading work at Kingfisher.™

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