Tanzania has on Tuesday, February 21, given its approval for the construction of a $3.5 billion East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP).
The 1,443-kilometre (900-mile) pipeline will transport crude from
vast oilfields being developed in Lake Albert in northwestern Uganda to a
Tanzanian port on the Indian Ocean.
The pipeline required approval from both countries, and last month
Uganda issued a licence to the project operator, the East African Crude Oil
Pipeline (EACOP).
"This construction approval marks another step forward to
EACOP as it allows commencement of the main construction activities in
Tanzania, upon completion of the ongoing land access process," EACOP
Tanzania general manager Wendy Brown said at a function to receive the approval
certificate.
The $10 billion oilfields and pipeline project has run into strong
opposition from rights campaigners and environmental groups that say it
threatens the region's fragile ecosystem and the livelihoods of tens of
thousands of people.
It is being jointly developed by the China National Offshore Oil
Corporation (CNOOC) and France's TotalEnergies, along with the state-owned
Uganda National Oil Company.
By AFP & The Citizen Reporter
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