DODOMA/KAMPALA — The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), the world’s longest electrically heated pipeline, is on track for completion by July 2026, with the first barrels of Ugandan oil expected to reach the Tanzanian coast by October.
Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) Managing Director Mussa Makame confirmed on Monday that construction has reached the 81% mark. In Uganda, engineers are currently engaged in a “12-month sprint” to bury the 296-kilometer domestic section.
The $5 billion project, a joint venture between TotalEnergies, China’s CNOOC, and the national oil companies of Uganda and Tanzania, has overcome significant financing hurdles following a $1 billion syndicated loan from regional lenders earlier this month.
“We are moving from the era of political vision to the era of economic execution,” said Henry Mulimba, a regional trade official, during a Joint Permanent Commission meeting in Dar es Salaam.
The project remains a lightning rod for environmental activists, who argue the 1,443-kilometer pipeline threatens fragile ecosystems and local livelihoods.
However, both governments have doubled down on the project as a cornerstone of regional energy security. To balance the trade imbalance, which currently sees Tanzania exporting nearly ten times more to Uganda than it receives, the two nations also announced plans for a reverse natural gas pipeline to bring Tanzanian gas to Ugandan industries.
