The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) will not begin commercial service until June 2027, a further slip in a schedule that has already moved repeatedly since the project reached final investment decision in 2022.

According to a report by Green Building Africa, commissioning hurdles are driving the revised timeline. The outlet, citing the updated schedule, did not itemize each obstacle, but the June 2027 date now stands as the working target for first flows on the line built to move Ugandan crude to the Tanzanian coast for export.

What the slip means for the basin

EACOP is the linchpin of Uganda's Lake Albert development. The 1,443-km heated pipeline is designed to carry crude from the Tilenga and Kingfisher projects to the Chongoleani peninsula near Tanga, Tanzania, where an export terminal will load tankers. Until the line and its marine facilities commission, Uganda's upstream partners cannot monetize production at scale — meaning the pipeline schedule effectively sets first-oil economics for the entire basin.

The Tilenga development, operated by TotalEnergies, and the Kingfisher project, operated by CNOOC, both depend on EACOP for evacuation. Each passing quarter of pipeline delay pushes back the revenue start for the two sanctioned developments and extends the payback horizon on the combined scheme.

Commissioning is the bottleneck

The Green Building Africa report frames the problem squarely in the commissioning phase rather than in construction scope or financing. That distinction matters for readers tracking the project's critical path. Commissioning a heated crude line of this length — one of the longest of its type planned anywhere — involves staged pressure testing, heater station integration, pump station startups, and terminal loading trials before the operator can declare commercial readiness.

Any slippage at this stage tends to compound. A late start at one station cascades through the commissioning sequence, and the June 2027 target assumes each remaining milestone holds. Industry watchers will judge the credibility of the new date by the pace of hydropower connections, camp decommissioning of construction spreads, and terminal works at Tanga over the coming quarters.

Why the date keeps moving

EACOP has faced schedule pressure from several directions since sanction. Financing closed later than early schedules assumed, with a group of lenders including the African Development Bank and Standard Bank, plus export credit agencies, reaching financial close in late 2023. Construction has proceeded across both Uganda and Tanzania, but the project has also contended with litigation from environmental groups in regional courts and sustained activist campaigns targeting insurers and banks — pressure the sponsors have worked through while keeping field work going.

Against that backdrop, a June 2027 startup represents a delay of roughly a year against the most optimistic earlier guidance, which had pointed to first oil and pipeline flows in 2026.

The watch items

Three markers will tell the market whether June 2027 holds. First, the pace of line-fill and heater station commissioning across the Ugandan and Tanzanian sections through 2026. Second, completion and wet commissioning of the export terminal at Chongoleani, including marine loading infrastructure. Third, the alignment of Tilenga and Kingfisher drilling and facility readiness with pipeline availability — upstream wells ready before the line can receive crude simply add to carrying costs.

For Uganda, whose government has staked fiscal plans on oil revenue, and for Tanzania, which collects transit tariffs, the June 2027 date is now the reference point for both treasuries and for the project's lenders modeling debt service.