Tanzania-Uganda Oil Pipeline that links Uganda and Tanzania has managed to overcome a major hurdle which delayed the final decision according to the Standard Bank Group Ltd. Tanzania managed to settle a major disagreement with some of the Chinese financiers according to Kenny Fihla who is the chief executive officer for the commercial and investment banking unit of lenders.
Currently, Standard Bank is able to make a decision on whether to make an investment of as much as $100 million just after the developer of the Tanzania-Uganda Oil Pipeline project, TotalEnergies SE, China’s CNOOC Ltd., Uganda and Tanzania both come to reach an agreement on funding of the structure. Moreover, the bank is waiting for the culmination of environmental and social impact assessment study.
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Tanzania-Uganda Oil Pipeline Length and Capacity
The 1,443 kilometer-pipeline is expected to commence oil transportation in the year 2025 and ferry a total of 246,000 of crude oil in a single day when at peak. This Tanzania-Uganda Oil Pipeline will be the longest world heated pipeline when it shall be completed. A total of 62% stake will be owned by TotalEnergies in the planned conduit whereas 15% of interest will be each accorded to Tanzania Petroleum Development Corp. And Uganda National Oil Co. The rest of the interest will be accorded to CNOOC.
However, the bank has faced a lot of criticism by environmental activists who have pointed out that the Tanzania-Uganda Oil Pipeline will be a threat to the natural homes of endangered wildlife species and also displace a population of more than 118,000 people. Quite a number of civil society organizations have made requests to lenders asking them not to be participants of the project including the Standard Bank.
Despite all the criticism, the development of the Tanzania-Uganda Oil Pipeline project will progress either with or without the participation of Standard Bank as it is the right move for strengthening the economy of Tanzania and Uganda and thus the stakeholders of the project look forward to addressing the pending issues more adequately.
