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Total, Tanzania sign HGA on EACOP

TANZANIA FRANCE’S Total has concluded a host govern- said last week that they expect to make the FID
ment agreement (HGA) with Tanzania on the in December 2020 or January 2021. If they meet
construction of the East Africa Crude Oil Pipe- this deadline, EACOP will be able to start con-
line (EACOP), which will pump production struction work before the end of the first quarter
from fields in Uganda to the coast of the Indian of next year.
Ocean Total has become the majority shareholder
EACOP, the company set up to build and in EACOP (and in the fields that will provide
operate the pipeline, confirmed the signing of throughput for the link) through its acquisi-
the agreement in a post on its website dated tion of the Ugandan assets of Tullow Oil (UK/
October 26. It reported that the parties had for- Ireland). It will work with Uganda and Tanzania
malised the accord at a ceremony attended by to build a 1,445-km pipeline from Hoima, a city
Nicolas Terraz, the president of Total Explora- near Lake Albert, to Tanga, a port on the Indian
tion & Production Africa; Adelardus Kilangi, Ocean. The cost of building the pipeline, which
the attorney general of Tanzania; and Stanley will be able to handle 216,000 barrels per day
Mabiti, EACOP’s legal advisor. (bpd) of oil, is expected to amount to $3.55bn. ™
The HGA moves Total and its partners one
step closer towards beginning work on the pipe-
line. The document lays out the rights and obli-
gations of the Tanzanian government and the
investors with respect to the project. It also out-
lines the legal framework for the construction of
the pipeline while defining environmental and
other standards, liability and options for arbitra-
tion and termination of the project.
With this document signed, Total is now in
a position to negotiate with the Tanzanian gov-
ernment on the other accords that must be in
place before EACOP can be built. The parties
have not yet finalised or signed a shareholders’
agreement (SHA) or an agreement on tariffs
and transport, local press agencies noted. With-
out these, Total cannot make a final investment
decision (FID) on the EACOP project.
The French major appears to be optimistic
about its chances of reaching these milestones
quickly. Company representatives reportedly EACOP will terminate at the Tanzanian port of Tanga (Image: Uganda Business

INVESTMENT
Wintershall affiliate transfers operatorship

of two Sirte Basin oilfields to JV with NOC

LIBYA AN affiliate of Germany’s Wintershall Dea has Concessions 96 and 97 respectively.
begun transferring holdings in the Sirte Basin WIAG converted its existing contracts for the
to a new joint venture with Libya’s National Oil two blocks to exploration and production-shar-
Corp. (NOC). ing agreements (EPSAs) with NOC in Decem-
In a statement dated November 1, the Ger- ber 2019, when it set up the joint venture. It then
man firm said that Wintershall Aktienge- “continued to transitionally operate the fields
sellschaft (WIAG), its joint venture with Russia’s while SOO was being established and prepared
Gazprom, had handed its operatorship of both to assume operational responsibility,” the state-
sites over to the new venture, known as Sarir Oil ment said. “The vast majority of WIAG’s Libyan
Operations (SOO). It named the licence areas as personnel have been transferred to SOO and
Contract Areas 91 and 107, formerly known as will continue to work in their previous roles.”

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 44 04•November•2020