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Uganda approves ESIA for shall do to ensure that the health, safety and at gas stations.
Several vessels that transported fuel to
security of the communities, workers and
EACOP the environment are all respected.” Venezuela earlier this year, including Fortune
and Horse, turned off their satellite signal at
NEMA’s approval of the ESIA came
Uganda’s National Environmental shortly after four non-governmental least 10 days ago, according to Bloomberg
Management Authority (NEMA) confirmed organisations (NGOs) from Uganda, tanker tracking data.
last week that it had approved the Kenya and Tanzania attempted to block In addition to importing fuel, Venezuela
environmental and social impact assessment the construction of pipeline by filing suit also needs to export enough crude oil to
(ESIA) conducted for the East Africa Crude in the East African Court of Justice. In free up storage space and prevent field
Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project. court filings, the groups argued that work stoppages, a task made more difficult by the
According to press reports from on the project should not go forward US sanctions. .
Kampala, NEMA issued a certificate of because the government of Uganda had not
approval for the ESIA to Total East Africa issued a certificate of approval for the ESIA
Midstream, a subsidiary of Total (France), before signing certain agreements on the UAE, Israel discuss
which is leading the effort to build the project, as required under the East African
pipeline. The certificate covers the Ugandan Community (EAC) Treaty and other cooperation in the field of
section of EACOP, which is due to cross relevant international laws.
both Ugandan and Tanzanian territory. The EACOP project is expected to carry petroleum and gas
(The government of Tanzania approved the a price tag of $3.55bn. When finished,
ESIA for the other section of the link in the link will follow a 1,445-km path from The UAE Ministry of Energy and
November 2019.) Hoima, a town in western Uganda, to Infrastructure, along with the Israeli
Martin Tiffen, the general manager of Tanga, a port on Tanzania’s coast. It will be Ministry of Energy, held their first natural
the EACOP project, expressed satisfaction able to handle 216,000 barrels per day (bpd) gas and petroleum working group meeting
with NEMA’s move, which will pave the of crude oil.. to discuss opportunities for cooperation
way for starting construction work on the and collaboration.
pipe. “This is a significant milestone for the ollowing the signing of the historic
project and is the result of several years of Iran ‘sending biggest Abraham Accords in Washington earlier
collaborative work with many specialists this year, representatives from the United
and stakeholders to reach this point,” he was fuel tanker flotilla yet to Arab Emirates and Israel welcomed the
quoted as saying by the Ugandan press. opportunity to explore how to promote and
Tiffen also emphasised that the pipeline Venezuela’ to advance the development of natural gas
would benefit the economies of both and petroleum within the two countries and
countries. EACOP “will yield substantial Iran is reportedly sending its biggest fleet yet to achieve their visions and shared goals.
foreign direct investment in Uganda and of fuel tankers to Venezuela in defiance of US During the meeting, which was attended
Tanzania during the construction phase,” sanctions to help the isolated nation weather a from the UAE side by representatives of the
he said. crippling gasoline shortage. Ministry of Energy, the Abu Dhabi National
For his part, Dozith Abeinomugisha, the Some vessels among the flotilla of Oil Company, ADNOC, and on the Israeli
director of petroleum refining, conversion, around 10 tankers would also help export side members of the Ministry of Energy,
transmission and storage at the Petroleum Venezuelan crude after discharging fuel, participants discussed ways to develop
Authority of Uganda (PAU), said he hoped according to sources quoted by Bloomberg. bilateral relations between the two countries
the approval of the ESIA would help Last week, the Wall Street Journal quoted and the future of joint cooperation in
accelerate the development of oilfields near US officials as claiming Iran was also sending energy, petroleum and natural gas.
Lake Albert. “EACOP will provide a wide troops and weapons to help the Maduro The two sides referred to the most
range of social [and] economic benefits regime, like Tehran attempting to survive prominent achievements and developments
to the country and the region, including crushing Trump administration sanctions. in the energy sector during the past 10 years
serving as a regional infrastructure to Venezuela’s fuel crunch has been in both countries, and the current statistics
deliver crude oil ... [from] the region to the brought about by sanctions that have for each country in the fields of petroleum
market,” he said. undermined supplies and maintenance and natural gas.
Meanwhile, Tom Okurut, NEMA’s and also, according to analysts, decades of They also reviewed the most important
executive director, stated that his agency mismanagement, corruption and under- petroleum projects and gas fields that the
intended to monitor the EACOP project investment at state-owned Petroleos de two countries are working on at the present
closely in order to ensure that Total and Venezuela since the time of Maduro’s late time, and the volume of stocks and the
other stakeholders upheld the conditions of mentor and predecessor, Hugo Chavez. amount of production and digital fields.
the certificate of approval. “Monitoring is a The last Iranian fuel shipments sent in
continuous process and will be undertaken early October on three vessels are thought
during construction, operation and to be running out, threatening steeper
decommissioning phases,” he said. “This we nationwide shortages with hours-long queues

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