KAMPALA, UGANDA | Xinhua | China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) said that development work at its Kingfisher Oil Field in western Uganda is nearing completion, as the East African country accelerates efforts toward commercial oil production.
According to an update report obtained by Xinhua on Tuesday, the overall project progress has surpassed 99 percent.
“The Kingfisher Project is in its final development phase, with major infrastructure completed and remaining activities focused on testing, finishing works and commissioning ahead of first oil,” the company said.
The report said that civil works are more than 99 percent complete, while the feeder pipeline has reached 99.4 percent completion. The remaining work involves the installation of the metering and prover system. Major civil works at the central processing facility have been finalized, with ongoing testing, access road completion and final facility works underway.
CNOOC added that the installation of mechanical equipment has been completed, with test runs and performance verification ongoing for key systems, including pumps, motors, generators and compressors. Pre-commissioning activities are currently underway, to be followed by joint commissioning with production teams.
Beyond construction, CNOOC highlighted social impact efforts, noting that livelihood restoration programs, including modern agriculture initiatives, are benefiting more than 700 people through improved farming practices and enterprise development.
The project currently employs 1,498 Ugandans, with local staff receiving more than 291,000 man-hours of training in 2025 alone, according to the report.
In a separate interview with Xinhua on April 11, Ruth Nankabirwa, Uganda’s minister of energy and mineral development, said that development at the Tilenga Oil Field, operated by TotalEnergies, is about 77 percent complete.
Oil from the Kingfisher and Tilenga fields will be consolidated before being transported to the Tanzanian port city of Tanga via the East African Crude Oil Pipeline. Construction of the pipeline is about 89 percent complete, with the remaining work focused on technically complex sections requiring vertical and horizontal drilling, Nankabirwa said.
The pipeline is scheduled to be commissioned in July, with the first shipment expected on Oct. 30, according to the minister.
Uganda discovered an estimated 6.5 billion barrels of oil in 2006, of which about 1.4 billion barrels are considered commercially viable, according to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development. ■
