The construction of the Oil Central Processing Facility (CPF) at the Tilenga Project in Buliisa District has commenced.

The Central Processing Facility CPF will collect Oil from various Oil Wells in the two districts of Nwoya and Buliisa after separating it from other waste.

After this process, the Oil will be transported through a Feeder Pipeline to Kabalega Industrial Hub in Kabaale Sub County Hoima District.

The Central processing facility will house facilities that will be used in the processing of crude oil by removing impurities such as sand and water and separating useful and dangerous gases.

The facility is expected to process a total of 190,000 barrels of oil per day. Crude oil processed from the Central Processing Facility will be transported from the oil wells through a network of flow lines measuring about 160 kilometres.

The State Minister for Mineraldevelopment Peter Lokeris and Ernest Rubondo the Executive Director Petroleum Authority of Uganda have conducted an inspection of the ongoing works at the Tilenga Project which is being operated by Total Energies E and P.

Peter Lokeris the State Minister for Mineral Development explains that the Central Processing Facility will be completed by 2024 and over 4000 people are expected to be employed there once they are done with construction work.

He says Oil collected from the CPF at the Tilenga project will be transported through a feeder pipeline up to Kabaleega Industrial Park Hub in Hoima District.

He confirms that they will hit the deadline of having the first Oil by 2025.

Ernest Rubondo the Executive Director Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU) says the Country intends to establish two Central Processing Facilities which will be at Kingfisher Oilfield in Buhuka, Kyangwali Sub-County Kikuube District and another at the Tilenga Project in Buliisa District.

He adds that, for Oil to be produced it has to go through a Central Processing Facility.

Rubondo says the Contractor for the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) that will Transport Crude Oil from Kabalega industrial area to Tanga in Tanzania has been procured and the government has already compensated 90% of the Project Affected Persons PAPs.

Uganda expects to start producing oil in 2025. In April last year, the governments of Ugandan and Tanzania along with the two oil giants Total Energies and CNOOC signed agreements to kick off the construction of the East African Crude Oil pipeline that will help to transport crude oil from western Uganda to Tanzania.