The ministry of Energy and Mineral Development will today launch the Front End Engineering Design study for the Hoima – Tanga crude export pipeline, the ministry has announced.
The Uganda and Tanzania governments, together with the three oil companies – Total, Cnooc and Tullow – will launch the study, which is expected to be completed by the end of this year. Sources say an American company won the bid and that the announcement could be made today.
The launch comes before both Uganda and Tanzania are to formally determine the route of the pipeline.
“Route survey for the entire pipeline route is ongoing using Lidar technology. The Uganda section has been completed, while the Tanzania section is expected to be completed this December 2016,” Irene Muloni, the minister of Energy and Mineral Development, told Parliament last month.
She announced that on December 1, the governments of Uganda and Tanzania awarded a contract for the Front End Engineering Design.
Different committees comprising government officials of Uganda and Tanzania meet every four months to assess the progress of the project.
Uganda and Tanzania are currently negotiating an intergovernmental agreement that will be scrutinised by Parliament. The two governments are also holding discussions over a harmonised fiscal regime.
Also, plans to have a Land Acquisition and Resettlement Framework have gathered pace as the oil companies, together with Uganda’s government, hold talks over the draft. The framework is expected to ease access to land and avoid the delays that were experienced during a similar exercise for the refinery.
The 24-inch diameter heated crude export pipeline, which will be routed over a 1,445km-long stretch to the Tanzanian port of Tanga, is expected to cost at least $4bn.