TotalEnergies SE, China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), Uganda National Oil Co. (UNOC), and Tanzania Petroleum Development Corp. (TPDC) have taken final investment decision on the Lake Albert development project in Uganda. Lake Albert development includes Tilenga and Kingfisher oil projects and construction of the East African crude oil pipeline (EACOP) through Uganda and Tanzania.
Tilenga, operated by TotalEnergies, and Kingfisher, operated by CNOOC, are expected to start producing in 2025 and reach a cumulative plateau production of 230,000 b/d. Upstream partners are TotalEnergies (56.67%), CNOOC (28.33%), and UNOC (15%). Production from the oil fields in Uganda will be transported to the port of Tanga, Tanzania, through EACOP (TotalEnergies, 62%; UNOC, 15%; TPDC, 15%; and CNOOC, 8%) for export.
EACOP will use 897 miles of heated 24-in. OD pipe to carry as much as 300,000 b/d from western Uganda to Tanga on the Indian Ocean.
TotalEnergies says Lake Albert project design will limit greenhouse gas emissions “well below” 20 kg CO2eq/boe. Planned measures include extraction of LPG for use in regional markets as a substitute for burning biomass and solarization of the EACOP pipeline, according to TotalEnergies.
The company expects the project to cost $10 billion.
TotalEnergies last year let an engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning contract for Tilenga to a consortium of a subsidiary of McDermott International Ltd. and Sinopec International Petroleum Service Corp. Tilenga includes six oil fields and will be developed using 31 well pads connected to a 190,000-b/d central processing facility (CPF) in Kasenyi, Uganda. A planned 426 wells will be in use at full production: 200 water-injection wells, 196 production wells, two polymer-pilot wells, and 28 reference wells (OGJ Online, June 11, 2021).
Kingfisher development area (KFDA) includes Kingfisher field in Kikuube District, Uganda, with plans for future tie-in of Mputa-Nzizi-Waraga fields in Kaiso-Tonya, Hoima District. China Offshore Oil Engineering Co. completed Kingfisher’s front-end engineering design in November 2017.
KFDA development will use a 40,000-b/d CPF, 31 wells (11 injectors and 20 producers) to be drilled from four well pads, 19 km of flowline connecting the fields to the CPF, and a 46-km, 12-in. OD pipeline from the CPF to a planned hub and 30,000-b/d refinery in Kabaale, Hoima District.
A 211-km pipeline will move products from the refinery to a storage terminal at Namwabula, Mpigi District.
An airport is being built in Kabaale to help with refinery construction.
TotalEnergies and the Ugandan Ministry of Energy and Minerals also signed an MOU for development of 1 Gw of renewable energy.