TotalEnergies is the largest shareholder in EACOP with a 62% stake. France’s TotalEnergies and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation signed a $10 billion agreement earlier to develop Ugandan oilfields and ship the crude through a 1,445-kilometer pipeline to Tanzania’s Indian Ocean port of Tanga.

On Wednesday, Uganda issued a final tender to companies controlled by TotalEnergies to construct a $3.5 billion oil pipeline through to Tanzania. The final approval provides a way forward for the construction of the pipeline that will be used to transport the country’s crude internationally.

The signature follows a Monday approval by Uganda’s cabinet allowing the construction of the pipeline by the East African Crude Oil Pipeline Company Limited.

The project aims to extract huge crude reserves under Lake Albert, a 160-kilometer-long natural border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and ship the oil through what would become the world’s longest heated pipeline.

Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni, once hailed the project as a major economic boost for the country.

Other investors in this project are the state-run Uganda National Oil Company and Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation, which have 15% each, while China’s CNOOC holds 8%.