The government has said there will be no further extensions for the Chinese and French oil companies conducting exploration and development works in Uganda, setting July 2026 as the date for the start of commercial oil production.
Officials insist that the country will not entertain any more delays for a project that has been nearly two decades in the making. ‘There are no more excuses, no more extensions. By December, key project infrastructure will be substantially complete. And by July 2026, Uganda will have its first oil,’ Ms Lucy Nakyobe, the head of Public Service and the secretary to Cabinet, said, during a high-level inspection of oil fields in Bunyoro last week.
She added: ‘I came here as a doubting person because year after year, we have been told the same story. But having seen the wells, the processing infrastructure, and the ongoing pipeline works, I am convinced everything is on track.’ Uganda first discovered commercial oil reserves in the Albertine Graben in 2006, following exploratory work by Hardman Resources and Tullow Oil, which confirmed the presence of recoverable petroleum deposits in the Lake Albert Basin. The discovery sparked high expectations, with Ugandans anticipating rapid economic transformation, job creation, and improved public services. However, the journey to first oil has been long and complex.
A combination of infrastructure gaps, protracted negotiations with oil companies, environmental impact assessments, compensation disputes, and regional pipeline agreements has pushed timelines forward multiple times. The initial projections for first oil were 2018, later revised to 2020, then 2025, and now set for July 2026. The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, Ms Irene Batebe, said the sector has now entered a critical development stage, which includes drilling, central processing facility construction, pipeline development, and field operations training. ‘The oil and gas project has so far attracted foreign direct investment worth about $7.5b (approximately Shs25.9t).
This is the largest single investment in Uganda’s history,’ she noted. Uganda’s oil reserves are currently estimated at 6.5b barrels of crude, of which 1.4b barrels are considered recoverable with current technology. ‘The Tilenga and Kingfisher projects will be processing these 1.4b barrels. Combining Kingfisher at 40,000 barrels per day and Tilenga at 190,000 barrels per day, the production should last at least 20 years,’ she explained. At Kingfisher oil fields, operated by China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), 16 wells out of 27 planned have already been drilled. Of the total 31 wells, four are fully operational, and officials said 17 wells will be sufficient for the first production phase.
‘The central processing facility, now 97 percent complete, will clean crude oil from the wells before it is transported to Kabaale, where it will join the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop) for export,’ Mr Andrew Mbigiti, the communication officer at CNOOC, said. Meanwhile, the Tilenga project, operated by TotalEnergies EP, requires 400 wells to reach full production. Progress on drilling and construction has accelerated, and they said they have six wells that are fully completed. ‘In terms of production, we are set.
They are drilling 14 out of the 16 wells required, with key infrastructure nearing completion, and the CPF, which is 800 by 800 square metre, is also in full gear, and most of the things needed to first oil will be ready by July 2026,’ an engineer at the facility, who preferred anonymity, said. The Eacop, a 1,443km pipeline connecting Uganda’s oil fields to the Tanzanian port of Tanga, is advancing steadily.
Progress of the project
By September, over 1,000 kilometres of the Eacop welding had been completed. When operational, it will transport Uganda’s crude to international markets, positioning the country as a key player in East Africa’s energy sector. Complementing these oil developments, the Kabaale International Airport in Hoima is set to enhance logistics and support the sector. The airport will facilitate cargo and personnel movement for the oil and gas industry. Officials are confident that the convergence of Tilenga, Kingfisher, Eacop, and Kabaale Airport infrastructure will mark a turning point in the oil journey, finally fulfilling the promise that has been nearly 20 years in the making.