Sputink, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
The East African Crude Oil Pipeline is being built between the Lake Albert oil fields in Uganda and the Tanzanian port of Tanga, a distance of 897 miles. The plan calls for the 24 inch pipeline to carry a maximum of 216,000 barrels per day.
Financing for the $5 billion project has been a problem since its initiation in 2013. Western banks have withdrawn their commitments in view of objections by environmental groups. Owned by the French oil company Total Energies, the Uganda National Oil Company, Tanzania, and China National Offshore Oil Corporation, financing is likely to be assumed by the China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure) and the Export-Import Bank of China (Eximbank).
It would seem that some of the fruits of China's trade surplus with the West will be used to enable profits by a French oil giant, assist a developing African country jumping into fossil fuels and Chinese financial institutions.
This project will employ thousands, as will the development and operation of the oil fields. Full scale production is likely to lower oil prices somewhat, a positive for everyone.
Photo: Handout
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