French oil giant reaches agreement with Uganda on crude oil pipeline development

French oil giant Total said on Friday it had reached an agreement with the Ugandan government on the development of a crude oil pipeline.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Total chief executive Patrick Pouyanne reached an agreement on the conditions of entry of the state-owned Uganda National Oil Company in the project, as well as on the Host Government Agreement (HGA) which will govern the pipeline project in Uganda, Total said in a statement.

"We have today reached major milestones which pave the way to the final investment decision in the coming months. We now look forward to concluding a similar HGA with the government of Tanzania and to completing the tendering process for all major engineering, procurement and construction contracts," Pierre Jessua, managing director of Total E&P Uganda, said in the statement.

"The conditions are set for the ramp-up of project activities and in particular, we will resume the land acquisition activities in Uganda while respecting the highest human rights standards," the statement added.

The 1,445-km East African crude oil pipeline, costing 3.55 billion U.S. dollars, will run from Uganda's oil wells in the western part of the country to the Tanzanian seaport of Tanga.