Uganda: First Oil Delay to June 2027 Confirmed

• Uganda has set a new target of June 2027 for its first commercial oil production, marking another revision in a two-decade-long project timeline.
• The 1,443-kilometer East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) is expected to be ready for crude by mid-December 2026, as reported to Parliament's Finance Committee.
• Previous government assurances had targeted first oil for 2026, and earlier projections had consistently pointed to 2025.
• As of November 2024, the Tilenga project was 42% complete against a 51% plan, and Kingfisher was 88% complete against a 91% target.
• An MP has called for more precise monthly timelines for oil production, rather than broad financial-year deadlines.

The nation's journey toward oil production has been marked by a consistent pattern of revised deadlines since the initial discovery of commercially viable deposits.

Uganda has once again adjusted its projected timeline for commencing commercial oil extraction, now targeting June 2027 for the initial output. This marks another revision in a development whose commencement dates have frequently been rescheduled over two decades, prompting renewed scrutiny regarding the project's delivery.

The updated schedule was presented to Parliament's Finance Committee by Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development Henry Musasizi, alongside representatives from key agencies including the Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU), the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC), the National Planning Authority (NPA), and the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA). The committee, under the chairmanship of Maximus Ochai, was informed that the 1,443-kilometre East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) is anticipated to be prepared to receive crude by mid-December 2026. However, within the government's current financial year planning, the first commercial oil production is now anticipated to occur before the close of June 2027.

This most recent timeline follows just months after government officials had consistently assured the nation that oil production would begin in 2026. For instance, in March 2026, the PAU informed Parliament's Public Accounts Committee that Uganda expected to achieve its first oil by the end of July 2026. Prior to that, in May 2025, Energy Minister Ruth Nankabirwa had shifted the target to June 2026, succeeding an earlier government commitment to produce oil by 2025.

The 2025 target itself had been a recurring announcement from the government. In October 2023, Minister Nankabirwa had assured Parliament that Uganda was progressing as planned to achieve its initial oil output by the end of 2025. Similarly, government budget documents for the 2024/25 financial year indicated that the country was on course for first oil by the close of 2025. The Ministry of Finance had previously estimated that the first oil extraction would take place in the second quarter of 2025, with an Auditor General's report subsequently identifying November 2025 as the target for the first oil export through Tanga Port.

The nation's journey toward oil production has been marked by a consistent pattern of revised deadlines since the initial discovery of commercially viable deposits in the Albertine Graben. The government initially projected production around 2018, a target that was not met and subsequently moved to 2020. Later projections then centered on 2025, primarily due to delays in negotiations, development plans, and the establishment of critical infrastructure. The Final Investment Decision (FID) was eventually announced by the government and its oil partners in February 2022, with the PAU's published timeline suggesting first oil within 36 to 45 months of the FID, placing the original post-FID production window around 2025.

Despite the latest postponement, the PAU informed Members of Parliament that significant strides have been made on the EACOP project. According to Acting PAU Executive Director Michael Ochan, 1,414 kilometers of the 1,443-kilometer pipeline have been completed and buried, with the majority of associated facilities nearing completion. He specified that major outstanding tasks include pump stations three and four, along with electrical installations, instrumentation, telecommunications, ICT systems, and security infrastructure.

Ochan indicated that these remaining works are expected to be finalized by early December, which would enable the pipeline to begin receiving crude oil by mid-December 2026. However, recent progress reports from November 2024 revealed that the Tilenga project stood at 42 percent completion against a planned 51 percent, while the Kingfisher project was 88 percent complete compared to its 91 percent target.

The ongoing adjustments to the timeline prompted Member of Parliament Patrick Oshabe Nsamba to advocate for more precise information from the government. Nsamba argued that the Ugandan public deserves to know the exact month when oil production will commence, rather than being provided with broad financial-year deadlines. He questioned whether the completion of EACOP in December would translate to crude pumping starting in January, February, or a specific month such as March, emphasizing the need for definitive dates.

Source: Original reporting via the provided source