TotalEnergies EP Uganda has vowed to preserve the natural habitats and environment along the project path of both the oil fields in Tilenga, Hoima district, and the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP).

In a statement titled ‘Tilenga and EACOP, Projects with close attention to the Rights of Communities concerned’, TotalEnergies says that right from the design phase of these projects, special attention was paid to information collection, consultation and consensus-building with all stakeholders.

“Over 70,000 people were consulted during the environmental and social impact assessments (ESIAs). Discussions have been initiated with several NGOs, laying the foundation for a sustainable collaboration process aimed at capitalising on their expertise and driving continuous improvement,” reads part of the statement.

Concerning protecting the Murchison Falls National Park, TotalEnergies says “fully aware of the project’s sensitive nature, we have placed particular emphasis on environmental and societal issues, with specific commitment to leaving the Murchison Falls National Park and surrounding areas in a better state than they were before the work started and to limiting residents’ relocations as much as possible.”

On EACOP, TotalEnergies says that both in Uganda and Tanzania, the pipeline route was designed to minimize the number of residents physically displaced, focusing on rural areas.

“We will go to great lengths to avoid or minimize environmental and safety impacts. Initiatives to protect biodiversity and generate a ‘positive net gain’ will also be implemented for critical habitat,” reads part of the statement.

The Tilenga and EACOP projects are situated in sensitive social and environmental corridors and require land acquisition programs with close attention to the rights of the affected communities.

“ESIAs have been carried out in compliance with the execution standards of the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Third party reviews have also been conducted to ensure that the projects are compliant with the best social and environmental practices,” says TotalEnergies.

When it comes to employment opportunities Tilenga and EACOP will offer to the locals, the firm pledges to provide 11,000 direct jobs and 47,000 indirect jobs, to be created during the construction phase, while 900 direct jobs and 2,400 indirect jobs are to be created during the production phase.

It says that 2.1 million hours of training will be provided to build local skills and expertise, while local contractors will bag up to $1.7b during the construction phase.

TotalEnergies additionally pledges to ensure transparency around the two projects, to “religiously provide well researched and assessed information, which have passed the ESIAs and third party review marks.” These, it says, will be uploaded onto their website at all times.

TotalEnergies and its partner China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) reached a deal with Uganda and Tanzania to invest more than $10b in developing crude oil production in East Africa.

The project will cover the development of oil fields, processing facilities and a pipeline network in Uganda, plus an export pipeline through Tanzania to evacuate landlocked Uganda's crude to a port on the Indian Ocean.