Update: Uganda’s US$3.5 billion pipeline

Stanbic Bank Uganda was appointed alongside Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. as joint financial adviser for the 1445 km (898 mile) pipeline, Patrick Mweheire, the Chief Executive Officer of the Kampala, Uganda based business, said in an interview on Tuesday.

The companies will explore raising bank debt or loans from export credit agencies among the options they are considering, he said, without giving more details.

The pipeline will connect Uganda’s Hoima oilfields in the west to the port of Tanga in neighbouring Tanzania.

France’s Total SA, China’s Cnooc Ltd. and London-based Tullow Oil Plc are jointly developing the country’s oil finds.

“A lot of activities are going on, a lot of tenders are being made” and expectations are that the final investment decision for the project will be made in the first quarter of next year, Mweheire said. Fundraising for the project won’t cause “any currency mismatch” because borrowing can be done in dollars, he said.

Standard Bank Group’s Ugandan unit plans to raise US$3 billion (€2.56 billion) for a crude pipeline by the second half of next year as the east African country prepares to start oil production by 2020.

Oil and gas exploration company Tullow Oil, which was founded in Co Carlow, is jointly developing Uganda’s oil finds with French company Total and Chinese company CNOOC.

Stanbic Bank Uganda was appointed alongside Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking as joint financial adviser for the pipeline, Mweheire said. He said the companies would explore raising bank debt or loans from export credit agencies among the options they were considering.