TotalEnergies EP Uganda has taken tremendous strides towards the development of the licensed Tilenga oil Project with the visible construction of the Central Processing Facility (CPF) after site preparation.
During a concluded two-day visit to the oil projects in the Albertine region, Dr Peter Teko Lokeris, the State Minister for Energy and Mineral Development, said he was amused by the progress on the Tilenga and Kingfisher oil projects.
Speaking to journalists after witnessing the CPF construction works at Kasinyi village in Buliisa district, the minister said that he was getting assurance from the oil companies that Uganda will see its first oil on the surface by 2025.
“This is a good gesture. I am sure that we shall achieve the dream of the first oil by 2025. I am happy with the opportunities brought by the projects and we hope for more as Ugandans strategically work to benefit with support from the government,” he said.
Mr Ernest Rubondo, the Executive Director (ED) for the Petroleum Authority Uganda (PAU), reported to the minister that the CPF construction started some months ago and is expected to be complete before the end of 2024.
The Central Processing Facility (CPF) construction underway at Tilenga Project in Buliisa District. (Image: Gad Asaba/Kazi-njema News)
The CPF is simply an oil facility enriched with equipment to remove impurities from crude oil pumped to the surface before being piped to the Kabaale oil refinery in Hoima district for refining or exported as crude to the world market through the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) for Uganda’s case.
The ED also told the minister that the drilling of oil wells had also started with two already drilled as the third is expected before the year ends.
The laying of the flow lines from the field to the CPF has also started, Mr Rubondo continued.
According to him, the construction of housing units to accommodate more than 4,000 workers is also underway.
Mr Rubondo said that more than 1,300 people are currently employed by the Tilenga project expecting a total of about 4,000 employees in the area at the peak of the project.
