After years of construction, legal challenges and shifting timelines, Tanzania and Uganda now have a clearer sequence for bringing the $5 billion project into operation: crude is expected to enter the pipeline in December 2026, reach the Chongoleani terminal in Tanga around February 2027, and be loaded onto the first export vessel shortly afterwards.
The latest timeline was provided by Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) Managing Director Mussa Makame on September 21. He said EACOP is 92.7% complete, with line filling scheduled to begin in December. The first export vessel is expected in February or early March, although Tanzania's Daily News separately reported that tanker loading could begin in March after crude reaches Tanga and terminal testing is completed.
For a project that has spent years being defined by construction milestones, the difference is significant.
The pipeline now has a commissioning sequence.
From a 92.7% Pipeline to a Pipeline With Crude
In August, EACOP reached a 92.7% completion and Uganda was said to transition from building an export route to preparing for commercial oil production. At that point, the infrastructure was nearing completion, while Uganda had already given its crude an identity: Pearl Sweet.
Now the pieces are beginning to connect.
Pearl Sweet will come from Uganda's Tilenga and Kingfisher developments, with combined peak production expected to reach about 230,000 barrels per day. The medium-to-heavy, waxy crude requires heating to remain flowable, which is why EACOP was designed as an insulated, electrically heated pipeline running from Kabaale in Hoima to Tanga.
Uganda has also appointed Vitol to market its government and UNOC allocation of Pearl Sweet, giving the crude an international trading and logistics partner ahead of first exports.
Tanga Is Becoming the Bigger Story
Also in August, Uganda, Tanzania and Vitol signed an MoU for the proposed Tanga Regional Energy Hub, a development that could attract more than $20 billion in prospective investment across refining, petroleum storage, logistics and related infrastructure. The proposed hub also includes a bidirectional products pipeline intended to move refined fuels between Tanzania and Uganda.
EACOP could therefore become the foundation of something much larger than an export route.
Ugandan crude would move south-east to Tanga. Crude would be stored at the Chongoleani terminal before export, while future refining and storage projects could expand Tanga's role as a regional petroleum centre. Tanzania's latest plans include four EACOP storage tanks with combined capacity of 2 million barrels at Chongoleani.
But the expansion also brings back a question that has followed EACOP from the beginning.
The closer the system gets to operation, the more consequential its environmental and social footprint becomes. Ugandan farmers have already brought a case before the UK High Court seeking to prevent EACOP from beginning operations, arguing that Ugandan laws should be applied to the UK-registered EACOP company. Meanwhile, civil society groups have raised concerns about the environmental implications of expanding petroleum infrastructure around Tanga.
Those debates now sit alongside a very different reality: the infrastructure is approaching the point of carrying its first crude.
For Uganda, that means the transition from oil development to export is becoming tangible. For Tanzania, it means Tanga is moving closer to becoming a major crude-export and potentially wider energy hub. And for East Africa, it marks the emergence of a new route connecting inland resources to international markets through the Indian Ocean.
When the first tanker eventually leaves Tanga, it will not simply mark the completion of a pipeline, It will mark the beginning of EACOP's next chapter.
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