KAMPALA — Uganda has pushed back its target for starting commercial oil production to June 2027, extending a long series of delays in the country’s plan to become an oil-producing nation.
The latest target comes after the government failed to meet its most recent deadline of July 2026, according to a report by The Observer published on September 12.
The government had previously targeted June 2026 for first oil, after earlier projections had placed commercial production in 2025.
In October 2023, then Energy Minister Ruth Nankabirwa told Parliament that Uganda was on course to achieve first oil by the end of 2025. That deadline was later moved to June 2026 and subsequently July 2026.
Uganda’s original plans had anticipated first oil around 2018, but the target was later shifted to 2020 before the government settled on 2025 as a major production target.
The latest delay comes as the country’s two major upstream developments, Tilenga and Kingfisher, and the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) continue toward completion.
EACOP, which is being developed to transport Uganda’s crude from the Lake Albert region to Tanzania’s Indian Ocean coast, stretches 1,443 kilometres from Kabaale in Hoima to the Chongoleani Peninsula near Tanga.
The Observer reported that EACOP was about 81% complete, while the Tilenga and Kingfisher projects were approximately 67% complete at the time of its report.
The Tilenga project is operated by TotalEnergies EP Uganda, while Kingfisher is being developed by China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC). Uganda’s Petroleum Authority identifies the two as the country’s main petroleum production projects.
Uganda’s oil reserves are estimated at about 6.5 billion barrels, of which approximately 1.4 billion barrels are considered recoverable, according to government-linked industry information.
The repeated delays have kept the country’s anticipated oil revenues, which the government has said will support economic transformation and development, from materialising on the earlier timelines.
The latest target of June 2027 will therefore become another date against which the government and its oil-sector partners will be measured.
For Uganda, the question is no longer simply when the country discovered oil.
It is when the oil will finally begin flowing.
