Uganda's first oil: Dangling lucky charm in the economy

Uganda’s initial oil revenues could offer a boost to taxation, debt, foreign currency reserves and country creditworthiness ratings over the short term on the back of new, significant export revenues in spite of uncertainty surrounding the official launch of oil export.

So far, the country’s crude oil product has been branded “Pearl crude” while the 1,445 kilometre East African Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop) that links Tanga Port in Tanzania to Hoima district of Uganda 92 percent complete, according to government officials.

The Kingfisher oil project run by China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) is scheduled to kick start commercial oil production before end of this year while the Tilenga oil project managed by Total Energies of France is expected to commence oil production in the first quarter of 2027.