The Final Investment Decision (FID) for the Lake Albert Development in Uganda has been announced by TotalEnergies, a French energy company, and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC). TotalEnergies and CNOOC have formally launched the $10 billion large-scale oil project after reaching an agreement with the governments of Uganda and Tanzania.

The TotalEnergies-operated Tilenga project, the CNOOC-operated Kingfisher project, and the construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline are all part of the Lake Albert Development, which is owned by TotalEnergies (62%), Uganda National Oil Company (15%), Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (15%), and CNOOC (8%).

The FID is a watershed moment in the growth of a robust East African energy market. The Tilenga and Kingfisher projects are on target to begin production in 2025, with total production projected at 230,000 barrels per day.

Patrick Poyanné, Chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies stated that “with today’s signing of a framework agreement on renewable energy, we are laying the foundation to implement our multi-energy strategy in Uganda and contribute to people’s access to energy.”

“The development of Lake Albert resources is a major project for Uganda and Tanzania, and our ambition is to make it an exemplary project in terms of shared prosperity and sustainable development. We are fully aware of the important social and environmental challenges it represents. We will pay particular attention to use local skills, to develop them through training programs, to boost the local industrial sector in order to maximize the positive local return of this project,” Pouyanné added.

Meanwhile, TotalEnergies and the Ugandan government have inked an MoU for the development of renewable energy projects in the country. The MoU intends to improve energy availability and security while harmonising with TotalEnergies’ multi-energy strategy in Africa, to develop 1GW of installed capacity.