The Tilenga project is operated by TotalEnergies Exploration, and Production (TEPU) on behalf of the Joint Venture Partners (JVPs) comprising of: TEPU with the majority participating interest of 56.67%, the China National Offshore Oil Company (CUL) with 28.33%, and the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) with 15%. The project includes putting in place facilities to support the production of petroleum from six (6) oilfields located in Buliisa and Nwoya districts.
The Tilenga project is one of the two (2) flagship Upstream Petroleum Production projects in the country. The project consists of nine (9) Onshore oilfields with one (1) field in the Murchison Falls National Park (MFNP) – North of River Nile, and eight (8) fields in the South of the Nile (outside the park).
The development of Tilenga project is planned to be undertaken through Onshore drilling of four hundred, and twenty-six (426) wells from thirty-one (31) well pads, with three (3) drilling rigs, for approximately,4.6 years. The project is projected to produce 190,000 bopd of oil at peak, which will be processed and cleaned up at the Central Processing Facilities (CPF) located in the Industrial Area. The CPF consists of a series of tanks and piping systems through which the produced oil and the associated gas will be processed to remove any unwanted mixtures such as water and sand.
The project infrastructure includes over one hundred and seventy (170) kilometres (km) of buried flowlines, and a ninety-six (96) km feeder pipeline, a Lake Water Abstraction System, and other infrastructure such as the Victoria Nile Crossing, Bugungu Airstrip, Support bases, camps, and access roads. The oil fields under the Tilenga project have a combined volume of oil in place of 5.8 billion barrels of oil (Bbbls) with recoverable resources estimated at 874mmbbls.
Status of the Tilenga Project
Several project activities are progressing in preparation for production of First Oil (FO). These include Enabling Infrastructure (EI) works, Engineering, Procurement, Supply, Construction and Commissioning (EPSCC), Rig assembly and mobilisation in preparation for drilling, and Geosciences, among others as indicated below.
a) Tangi Construction Support Base
The Tangi Construction Support Base (CSB) will logistically support the construction of facilities North of River Nile. Pearl Engineering Company Ltd, a Ugandan Company, carried out Site preparation works for the Tangi CSB. SINOPEC contracted Petrolink Engineering to construct offices, a fuel station, warehouse, and Materials Supply base, among others.
SINOPEC is working on welding, pipe coating, surface preparation, and treatment of flowline pipe surfaces. The progress of mobilisation of construction equipment such as pipe layers, wheel loaders, mobile power stations is at 95% completion.
b) Drilling related activities
The drilling of the four hundred, and twenty-six (426) wells on thirty-one (31) well pads implies that each well pad will have about fourteen (14) wells. This is to minimise the surface footprint in the project area. TEPU contracted Mota-Engil Uganda Limited to carry out EI works on the well pads. The contractor commenced construction works and progressed with site preparation. Three (3) drilling rigs are operational in Tilenga with two (2) rigs in the North of the Nile within MFNP, and one (1) drilling rigs in the South of the Nile (outside MFNP).
Drilling is ongoing at the Jobi-Rii 09 (JBR09) and Ngiri 05 (NGR05) well pads. Drilling and completion activities had been concluded on the JBR05, NGR03, NGR01, GNA01, JBR04, GNA04, JBR03, JBR02, and KAS01 well pads, delivering a total of one hundred thirty-four (134) wells. At least one hundred seventy (170) wells are required to be ready at First Oil (FO), meaning the project has achieved approximately 71.2% of the target for FO readiness.
c) Access Roads
Several access roads are under construction to facilitate access to the project sites. Some of the roads are finished with gravel while some are to be finished with an asphalt concrete.
d) Tilenga Industrial Area Enabling Infrastructure Works
Covering approximately 318 Ha (786 Acres), the Tilenga Industrial Area will host the 190,00bopd CPF together with other facilities such as the Drilling Support Base (DSB), CSB, Construction Camp (CC), Operator’s Camp (OC) and the Operations Support Base (OSB). The major scope of work at the Tilenga Industrial Area has completed.
TEPU handed over 70% of the Industrial Area to the Schlumberger, China Oil Services Limited (COSL), ZPEB and Vallourec, the Drilling and Wells Contractors, McDermott, and the EPSCC contractor.
e) Engineering, Procurement, Supply, Construction and Commissioning
The contract for engineering, procurement, supply, construction and commissioning (EPSCC) for the Tilenga project was awarded to McDermott and SINOPEC, and the work programmes under this contract are taking place both in-country and overseas. The scope of work for McDermott includes engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) for the 190,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) Central Processing Facility (CPF), a four-thousand-person (4000)-personnel capacity temporary camp, and the Lake Water Abstraction (LWA) facility. On the other hand, the scope of work for SINOPEC includes EPSCC for the well-pads, surface equipment, flowlines, and horizontal directional drilling (HDD) for the flowline crossing at the River Nile.
Construction activities under the EPSCC scope is progressing across both the Industrial Area and off-site infrastructure.
At the Central Processing Facility (CPF), activities involved piping installation, concrete works for equipment and tank foundations, assembly of steel tanks, and construction of the Central Control Building (CCB) and Electrical Instrumentation and Telecommunication (EIT) buildings. The installation of Gas Turbine Generators (GTGs) and heat exchangers also continued. Additionally, site preparation for the Operations Support Base (OSB) and Operations Centre (OC) advanced with the laying of pre-cast drainage channels and the construction of a patrol road.
Under the offsite works scope, including flowlines, north roads, Long Water Abstraction (LWA), and Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD), SINOPEC carried out activities such as Right of Way (RoW) clearance, pipeline stringing, welding, trenching, and backfilling for 8” and 10” oil/water lines. Additional works included HDPE pipeline installation, jetty sheet piling, and casting of pipe support foundations at NGR01, JBR05, and NGR03.
Restoration works also continued at the HDD pads and in Murchison Falls National Park (MFNP).
f) Land Acquisition for the Tilenga Project
The Tilenga Project land requirement is approximately one thousand one hundred eighty-three (1,183) hectares. The acquisition of this land is subdivided into six (6) Resettlement Action Plans (RAPs) (1, 2, 3A, 3B, 4 and 5). The Authority is mandated to ensure a fair and transparent acquisition of land for the O&G projects.
100% of the four thousand nine hundred fifty-four (4,954) PAPs in the Tilenga project had signed compensation agreements and all replacement houses handed over to the primary residents. Livelihood restoration and improvement programmes continue.
Land Acquisition Statistics for the Tilenga project as at 30th June 2025