TotalEnergies announced that it initiated commercial drilling in the Tilenga petroleum project, situated in Uganda’s western region, this month. The company anticipates commencing oil production in the East African country by 2025.
However, TotalEnergies has encountered significant opposition from environmental protection organizations and green energy advocates. They strongly believe that the Tilenga project, which occupies a portion of a national park, along with the proposed crude oil export pipeline, pose grave threats to the environment and are detrimental to the planet.
“Drilling of the Tilenga wells began in July 2023, with production scheduled to start in 2025. A total of 420 wells will be drilled at Tilenga,” a spokesperson for TotalEnergies said.
TotalEnergies and its partner, China’s CNOOC, have said production in Tilenga will hit a peak of 190,000 barrels per day.
Tilenga is one of Uganda’s two oil projects. Commercial drilling at Kingfisher, the second project, which is controlled by CNOOC, began in January.
A coalition of environmental pressure groups said on Wednesday that drilling in Murchison Falls National Park (MFNP) and the associated crude oil pipeline were detrimental to global efforts to cut reliance on fossil fuels and would devastate the park’s ecosystem.
“The decision by TotalEnergies and its partners to drill for oil within MFNP while ignoring biodiversity conservation, climate change, and socio-economic risks… is a direct contradiction to the global urgency to protect our remaining wild spaces and reduce fossil fuel reliance,” they said in a statement.
TotalEnergies asserts its dedication to safeguarding the park’s biodiversity, ensuring that any development will be confined to an area covering less than 1% of the total park land.
