Page 7 - AfrOil Week 12 2021

AfrOil PIPELINES AND TRANSPORT AfrOil

The project is divided into two phases: the first under evaluation on the basis of establishing
phase includes installing a 700-km pipeline with “the pipeline in return for a percentage that will
a capacity of 2.25mn bpd from Rumaila to Hadi- be deducted for each exported barrel.”
tha, while the second phase includes installing a The route of the pipeline has changed because
900-km pipeline in Jordan between Haditha and of unrest in Anbar Province. In November 2019,
Aqaba with a capacity of 1mn bpd. Russia’s Stroytransgaz Oil won a 35-year E&P
Total cross-border capacity is expected to be deal for Block 17, north-west of Samawah, along
1mn bpd of oil and 258mn cubic feet (7.31mn the route of the pipeline. The deal was notewor-
cubic metres) per day of gas. MoO spokesper- thy because of the challenges of operating in the
son Assem Jihad said in mid-2019 that “invest- area and because the Gazprom subsidiary is a
ment offers from international companies” were pipeline rather than exploration specialist. ™

Ugandan MPs seek more information

on government’s EACOP borrowing plan

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

Week 12 24•March•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P7