Environmentalists in Uganda criticise plan to extract oil in Lake Albert

By Bisola Adeyemo

Following the signing of a $10bn deal by French and Chinese oil companies, environmental groups in Uganda have criticized the idea of constructing an oil pipeline under Lake Albert, saying it will devastate the wildlife and people along its route.

The deal between France’s TotalEnergies and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation aims to exploit huge crude oil reserves under Lake Albert, on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“This milestone puts us on the path to first oil in 2025,” Uganda’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Development Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu said in a speech ahead of the signing.

According to Ssentamu, RFI reports that Uganda discovered the reserves in 2006, but production has been delayed by disagreements between the government and oil companies over tax and development strategy and a lack of infrastructure.

The government finally agreed to the project with Total and CNOOC in December.

Government geologists estimate that 1.4 billion barrels are recoverable of the 6.5 billion barrels in the ground.

The Lake Albert development project will involve creating oil fields, processing facilities and a pipeline network in Uganda, plus a 1,400-kilometre heated pipeline through Tanzania to export the oil to the port of Tanga on the Indian Ocean.

The chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies (formerly Total), Patrick Pouyanné, described the East African Crude Oil Pipe Line (EACOP) as a “the masterpiece of the project”, although critics charge that it threatens livelihoods and fragile ecosystems along its path.