Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu is expected to jet into the country on Sunday to finalize the signing of the oil pipeline deal which was initially scheduled for March 22, 2021 but was rescheduled following the death of then-President, John Pombe Magufuli that occurred on March ,17.
According to a reliable source, the meeting at Entebbe State House will see the Final Investment Decision signed and will mark the start of the construction of the crude oil pipeline.
The pipeline will cover 296km in Uganda passing through Hoima, Kyankwanzi, Mubende, Gomba, Kyotera, Lwengo, Ssembabule, Rakai and Kikuube and 1443km in Tanzania through the regions of Kagera, Gieta, Shinyanga, Tabora, Singida, Dodoma , Manyara and Tanga.
The $3.5 billion oil pipeline project is the longest electrically heated pipeline in the world and is expected to create jobs, help in technology transfer, creation of new infrastructure and enhance trade between Uganda and Tanzania and the East African region at large.
Uganda has about 1.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil discovered in the Albertine Graben on the border between Uganda and DR Congo at the Kingfisher and Tilenga fields.
The pipeline project is being implemented by a joint venture of CNOOC and Total; Uganda government through the Uganda National Oil Company and Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation.