The Ugandan government has given final approval to build a $3.5 billion pipeline to transport crude oil through Tanzania. The Ugandan cabinet has approved the construction of the pipeline by East Africa Crude Pipeline, a subsidiary of French energy and oil company TotalEnergies.

TotalEnergies is EACOP's largest shareholder with a 62 percent stake, while Uganda National Petroleum Corporation and Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation each own 15 percent, and China's China National Offshore Oil Corporation owns 8 percent of EACOP.

In Uganda, commercial oil production has been delayed by nearly two decades due to a lack of infrastructure and disagreements between the government and oil companies. EACOP will build the 1,445km pipeline from oil fields in landlocked Uganda to a port on Tanzania's Indian Ocean coast.

The project aims to exploit huge crude oil reserves under Lake Albert, the 160-kilometer natural border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It will transport domestically produced crude oil to international markets and will be the longest heating pipeline in the world.

The approval follows a deal between Tanzania and Uganda, with TotalEnergies clinching a $10 billion deal with CNOOC to develop fields and build pipelines in Uganda. The EACOP pipeline involves drilling in Murchison Falls, a national park in Uganda. Environmental groups and activists say the project has damaged the region's ecosystem and the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has pledged to proceed with the project regardless of the EU resolution and will consider other partners if TotalEnergies supports the EU resolution. Museveni said the project would be a major economic boost for the landlocked country, where many live in poverty.Editor/XingWentao