THE Vice-President of Total East Africa Javier Rielo made the pledge in Dar es Salaam during a meeting with Dr Magufuli at the State House, according to a statement issued by the Directorate of Presidential Communications.
The Total boss guaranteed to the president that his company had already secured the 4 million US dollars (about 8 trillion/-) required for the ambitious project in East Africa.
On his part, Dr Magufuli welcomed the venture and urged the company to fast-track its implementation. “It will be better to execute the venture in less than the scheduled completion time of three years to enable the people realise its benefits in the near future,” the statement quoted President Magufuli as saying.
On the same occasion, the Minister for Energy and Minerals, Professor Sospeter Muhongo, said his ministry will accord necessary cooperation to enable smooth completion of the scheme.
Prof Muhongo went on to note that suitable geographical location of Tanga Port provided a perfect setting for the construction of the pipeline through Tanzania.
“Tanzania is as well likely to benefit from the pipeline since there are currently exploration work undergoing in Lake Tanganyika and Lake Eyasi. If we strike oil in those areas we will use the same pipeline to transport the resource,” he explained.
The envisaged 24-inch conduit is expected to transport 200,000 barrels of crude oil from oil fields around Lake Albert in Uganda to the Tanga Port. During the construction phase, the mega project is expected to create 1,500 direct and 20,000 indirect jobs.
Prior to the 17th East African Community (EAC) Heads of State Summit in Arusha, President Magufuli and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni met and discussed implementation of the scheme.
Uganda has so far discovered 6.5 billion barrels of the precious liquid along the Lake Albert basin. The first finding was made by Hardman Resources in 2006 which was later acquired by Tullow Oil.
At present, three companies own 33.3 per cent each of the oil fields and they include Total, Tullow Oil and CNOOC.
The companies plan to construct an oil refinery to process 60,000 barrels per day to cater for demand of petroleum products in East Africa while between 200,000 and 600,000 barrels will be transported in crude form through the pipelines for exports outside the EAC.