THE Vice-President of Total East Africa Javier Rielo made the pledge in Dar es Salaam during a meeting with Dr
Magufuli at the State House, according to a statement issued by the
Directorate of Presidential Communications.
The Total boss guaranteed to the president that his company had already
secured the 4 million US dollars (about 8 trillion/-) required for the
ambitious project in East Africa.
On his part, Dr Magufuli welcomed the venture and urged the company to
fast-track its implementation. “It will be better to execute the venture
in less than the scheduled completion time of three years to enable the
people realise its benefits in the near future,” the statement quoted
President Magufuli as saying.
On the same occasion, the Minister for Energy and Minerals, Professor
Sospeter Muhongo, said his ministry will accord necessary cooperation to
enable smooth completion of the scheme.
Prof Muhongo went on to note that suitable geographical location of
Tanga Port provided a perfect setting for the construction of the
pipeline through Tanzania.
“Tanzania is as well likely to benefit from the pipeline since there are
currently exploration work undergoing in Lake Tanganyika and Lake
Eyasi. If we strike oil in those areas we will use the same pipeline to
transport the resource,” he explained.
The envisaged 24-inch conduit is expected to transport 200,000 barrels
of crude oil from oil fields around Lake Albert in Uganda to the Tanga
Port. During the construction phase, the mega project is expected to
create 1,500 direct and 20,000 indirect jobs.
Prior to the 17th East African Community (EAC) Heads of State Summit in
Arusha, President Magufuli and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni
met and discussed implementation of the scheme.
Uganda has so far discovered 6.5 billion barrels of the precious liquid
along the Lake Albert basin. The first finding was made by Hardman
Resources in 2006 which was later acquired by Tullow Oil.
At present, three companies own 33.3 per cent each of the oil fields and they include Total, Tullow Oil and CNOOC.
The companies plan to construct an oil refinery to process 60,000
barrels per day to cater for demand of petroleum products in East Africa
while between 200,000 and 600,000 barrels will be transported in crude
form through the pipelines for exports outside the EAC.
