Total SE has awarded the $1.9 billion deal to construct its Lake Albert oil production Tilenga project in Uganda to a consortium led by British and Chinese firms.
Total, the lead investor in Uganda’s oil projects, said it signed contracts for the main surface facilities Engineering, Procurement, Supply, Construction and Commissioning (EPSCC) contracts and five drilling packages for the Tilenga project located in Nwoya and Buliisa Districts.
The companies that won the deal include Sinopec International Petroleum Corporation, CB&I UK Limited, Schlumberger Oilfield Eastern Limited, Vallourec Oil and Gas France, and ZPEB Uganda Co. Limited.
“Following a comprehensive, competitive and thorough tender evaluation and contracting process that began with the phased submission of Front-End Engineering and Design proposals to ensure project optimisation, we are pleased to sign these conditional letters of award for the Tilenga project to these five highly qualified industry players. The launch of these contracts underscores our commitment to developing the Tilenga project while maximising value and viability of the project, and observing the most stringent Health, Safety, Social, Environment and Quality standards to which the contractor must adhere,” said Pierre Jessua, General Manager, Total E&P Uganda.
The project has made a significant commitment to promoting national content by employing Ugandans, local goods and services, and technology transfer.
The oil production deal is the first major deal out of several Tilenga packages that will, in total, cost an estimated $4 billion to $5 billion when the tendering process for all the projects are completed and contracts awarded.
Along with the CNOOC operated Kingfisher, Tilenga is one of two oil projects in the Lake Albert region for which the Petroleum Authority of Uganda awarded production licences. The project development phase has a target to achieve the first oil in 43 months.
The project has a production capacity of 190,000 barrels of oil per day. It includes six fields to be developed, 426 wells to be drilled from 31 well pads, and one central processing facility located in Buliisa, outside the Murchison Falls National Park.
Analyst say the award of contracts for Tilenga signals optimism for financing the $3.5 billion East African Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop), whose funding remains uncertain after targeted lenders pulled out over the project’s environmental risk human rights violation.
Read also; Total Signs $15 Billion Deal With Uganda on East Africa’s Oil Pipeline.
