EACOP: Balancing green concerns with gains

I am currently receiving more messages from green energy activists advancing the idea that Uganda’s $4-5b East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) is a danger to the environment and a hindrance to the energy transition plan for Uganda.

Most of the messages are coming from individuals and friends from Sweden, France, US, India, the United Kingdom, Canada, and beyond.
Unfortunately, they have limited knowledge about the on-ground impact of this project which I will elaborate on later in this article. These so-called green activists have branded EACOP a destroyer of human lives, animals, and crops and are continuing with selfish campaigns with placards and banners calling on lenders and governments to abandon the project.

Uganda is not the first country to build an oil pipeline to transport the resource to overseas markets. According to the Global Energy Monitor, the world’s 162 countries as of May 2023, had a combined length of oil pipelines of more than 306, 579 km; EACOP is 1, 443km, which is just 0.47 percent of the world’s combined length of oil pipelines.

Some of the countries with the longest network of oil and gas pipelines include the United States, Russia, Canada, China, and Australia – where some anti-EACOP activists live.  Oil and gas is a business and any business-like-minded entity will invest money in a project like EACOP as long as it meets all the stipulated international standards.

EACOP Environment Impact Assessment was carried out by internationally recognised companies, including RSK from the United Kingdom – where some of the ‘stop EACOP noise’ is coming from. This ‘noise’ continues amid stakeholders’ efforts to share facts about this project.
For emphasis, the entire EACOP route and the location of the associated facilities were selected during a multi-year process based on comprehensive feasibility studies aiming at avoiding environmentally and socially sensitive areas and areas of high population density.

The project complies with national regulatory requirements and adheres to international Environmental and Social requirements, specifically the Equator Principles and the IFC Performance Standards. 
These constitute a global management framework to identify, assess, and manage environmental and social risks in projects. The Equator principles are aligned with the IFC Performance Standards and require compliance with those standards by projects. 

This major export system includes 1,443 km (296 km in Uganda and 1147km in Tanzania) of insulated and buried 24-inch electrically heated pipeline, six pumping stations, two pressure reduction stations, and a marine export terminal in Tanzania.
Some experts have described this EACOP as a ‘green oil pipeline’ given the attention that those manning the project have given to protecting the environment. Those against the project do not say anything positive about its social-economic impact – which is linked to the country’s national content agenda and development plans.

For instance, the latest figures from EACOP indicate that as of February 2024, the company had completed the construction and handed over 177 replacement houses; total compensation for project-affected persons was at 95 percent; compensation payments effected was 92 percent.
Currently, the pipes for the project are being shipped into the country to pave the way for the construction of the pipeline. The pipeline’s benefits for Ugandans include direct employment of 14,000 people, indirect employment of 45,000 people, and induced employment of about 105,000 people. Of the direct employment, 57 percent is expected to be for Ugandans, among other benefits.

Once the oil starts to flow come 2025 as scheduled, EACOP will enter the operational phase expected to last about 20 years. EACOP shareholders are TotalEnergies (62 percent), Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) (15 percent), CNOOC (8 percent), and the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (15 percent).
A lot of resources have so far been invested in this project which is why we need to focus on its main goal and ignore the ‘noise’ makers.

The writer, Mr Humphrey Asiimwe is the Chief Executive Officer of the Uganda Chamber of Mines & Petroleum