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Ugandan MPs seek more info

on EACOP borrowing plan

AFRICA MEMBERS of Uganda’s Parliament are seeking which is typically more expensive than foreign
more information before approving the gov- options because of higher interest rates.
ernment’s plan to borrow the money it needs to They also expressed concern about a report
cover its 15% stake in the East Africa Crude Oil from the Auditor General that criticised the gov-
Pipeline (EACOP). ernment for expanding its debt portfolio nearly
Members of Parliament’s national economy to the maximum permitted level.
committee were due to discuss the plan, which Kitutu responded to questions by pointing
calls for raising UGX475bn ($129.6mn) on the out that Uganda had drawn up the plan because
domestic market to cover its portion of invest- it needed to secure the money in order to move
ment in the project which is expected to carry a the EACOP project toward a final investment
price tag of $3.55bn, in March 18. decision (FID).
Government officials had been hoping to She also joined with UNOC’s CEO Proscovia
secure a green light for the programme quickly, Nabbanja in describing the pipeline as a scheme
in advance of a scheduled meeting with repre- that was expected to generate profits over the
sentatives of Total, the French company that will long term.
lead work on EACOP, on March 22. EACOP is slated to be built by a consortium
However, committee members said on in which Total will serve as the operator and have
March 18 that they would need more documen- a 37.5% stake.
tation before making any decisions on this front. The remaining equity will be divided between
Syda Bbumba, the chairwoman of the commit- China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC),
tee, specifically requested copies of the intergov- with 37.5%; UNOC, with 15%, and Tanza-
ernmental agreement (IGA), host government nia Petroleum Development Corp. (TPDC),
agreement (HGA), tariff agreement, transpor- with 5%. Both Total and CNOOC are involved
tation agreement and shareholders agreement in developing the oilfields that will provide
signed for the EACOP project. throughput for the pipeline.
She instructed Energy and Mineral Develop- According to previous reports, EACOP will
ment Minister Mary Goretti Kitutu and repre- follow a 1,445-km path from Hoima, a town in
sentatives of Uganda National Oil Co. (UNOC) western Uganda, to Tanga, a port on Tanzania’s
to collect these documents and submit them to coast.
the committee on March 22. The link will be able to carry 216,000 barrels
As of press time, it was not clear whether per day (bpd) of oil from Blocks 1, 1A, 2 and 3A
UNOC and Kitutu had complied with those in western Uganda, which are home to the King-
instructions. fisher and Tilenga fields.
Committee members explained their request These fields are due to begin production in
on March 18 by raising questions about Kam- 2025 and will eventually yield at least 260,000
pala’s plan to borrow on the domestic market, barrels per day (bpd) of crude.™

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