The French oil conglomerate TotalEnergies recently disclosed that it had begun a new phase in a project that has become a bone of contention globally.
The oil giants said on Thursday that they had initiated a land acquisition assessment for the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop).
The project since its launch has been the subject of a heated dispute between environmentalists and its primary stakeholders.
“This mission will evaluate the land acquisition procedures implemented, the conditions for consultation, compensation and relocation of the populations concerned, and the grievance handling mechanism,” TotalEnergies relayed via a statment.
The group also noted that an audit would be published by April, as reported by the news publication, The East African.
The Eacop project, also known as the Uganda–Tanzania Crude Oil Pipeline, is a 1,443 km crude oil pipeline that is set to run through Uganda and Tanzania.
The pipeline is intended to transport oil produced from Uganda’s Lake Albert oilfields to the port of Tanga in Tanzania, as both nations look forward to identifying as oil producing African countries.
The Ugandan adminstration has asserrted that an oil project of such magnitude is sure to bolster the region’s economy, and give both countries involved a seat at the global oil market.
However, enviormentalist groups are at odds with the initiative given the potential damage it could cause the environment, not to mention the locals that would be displaced as result.
Despite the agressive push back from these groups including an EU panel, the project’s stakeholders are insistent on moving ahead with the project.
In December the project organizer revealed that at least 5000 pipes are already in place as the large-scale work is about to start. Operations are expected to be in full swing by 2026.
