Uganda oil start date in doubt despite crucial agreements
Pipeline deal with Tanzania and agreement with Total raise hopes of FID—but go-ahead could be delayed until 2022
Upcoming elections and doubts over financing for the world’s longest heated oil pipeline could scupper Uganda’s hopes of obtaining FID on its much-delayed Lake Albert crude project before year-end. Lake Albert was found to hold c.1.7bn bl of crude following Tullow Oil’s discovery of oil in 2006. The financially troubled Anglo-Irish Tullow, French major Total and Chinese NOC Cnooc each hold one-third stakes in the project—although Total agreed in April to buy out Tullow for $575mn: $500mn on conclusion of the deal, plus $75mn following FID. Tullow, which says the sale should be complete by year-end, would receive further payments if Brent prices rise above $62/bl. The project’s viability de
Also in this section
16 January 2026
The country’s global energy importance and domestic political fate are interlocked, highlighting its outsized oil and gas powers, and the heightened fallout risk
16 January 2026
The global maritime oil transport sector enters 2026 facing a rare convergence of crude oversupply, record newbuild deliveries and the potential easing of several geopolitical disruptions that have shaped trade flows since 2022
15 January 2026
Rebuilding industry, energy dominance and lower energy costs are key goals that remain at odds in 2026
14 January 2026
Chavez’s socialist reforms boosted state control but pushed knowledge and capital out of the sector, opening the way for the US shale revolution
