East African Crude Oil Pipeline

East African Crude Oil Pipeline
Map of East African Crude Oil Pipeline
Location
Country	Uganda and Tanzania
Coordinates	01°15′54″S 31°40′33″E / 1.26500°S 31.67583°E / -1.26500; 31.67583
General direction	West to Southeast
From	Hoima, Uganda
Passes through	Bukoba, Tanzania
To	Tanga, Tanzania
General information
Type	Crude oil pipeline
Partners	TotalEnergies
Commissioned	2025 (Expected)[1][2]
Technical information
Length	897 mi (1,444 km)
Maximum discharge	216,000 barrels per day[3]
Diameter	24[4] in (610 mm)

The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), also known as the Uganda–Tanzania Crude Oil Pipeline (UTCOP),^[5][4] is a 1,443 km crude oil pipeline in planning since 2013, with a foundation stone nominally under construction since 2017,^[6] and is intended to transport crude oil from Uganda's Tilenga and Kingfisher oil fields to the Port of Tanga, Tanzania on the Indian Ocean.^[7]

Uganda wants to develop its oilfields under the two projects Tilenga, operated by TotalEnergies, and Kingfisher by China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC). In 2021, EACOP was owned by TotalEnergies at 65 percent, Uganda's National Oil Company (UNOC) at 15 percent, Tanzania at 15 per cent and CNOOC at 5 percent. The price of the project has increased to US$5 billion. Financing as of January 2024 remained uncertain, as 24 banks have distanced themselves from the project with only two banks namely Standard Bank, through its subsidiary Stanbic Bank Uganda, and Sinosure still advising on the project.

Once completed, the pipeline would be the longest electrically heated crude oil pipeline in the world.^[8] Because of the large scale displacement of communities and wildlife, the threat to water resources, and contribution to anthropogenic climate change, global environmental groups and the European Union have been protesting its construction and finance.^[9][10] Peaceful activism and protests in Uganda have been met with repression and arrests.