East Africa Oil Pipeline Delayed Again to June 2027
The East African oil pipeline project has been hit with yet another delay, pushing its opening to June 2027. The project was initially set to open on October 1st of this year, but government officials have now confirmed that it will not be ready until mid-December at the earliest.
The delay is the latest in a long series of missed deadlines for Uganda's oil industry, which has seen its first oil production targets pushed back from 2018 to 2020, 2025, and finally to 2027. The project, known as EACOP, has been plagued by delays and setbacks, including disruptions in equipment deliveries from the Middle East due to the ongoing war.
Campaigners opposed to the project, who have long raised concerns about its social, environmental, and climate impacts, say the delay is a reminder that the project's future is not predetermined. 'The project developers and their allies would have us believe that because construction is nearing completion, EACOP is a done deal,' said Zaki Mamadoo, coordinator of the StopEACOP campaign. 'But this delay reminds us that nothing about this project is inevitable.'