TotalEnergies Holds 62% of EACOP as UK Court Targets East Africa Pipeline
Ugandan farmers are pursuing a London injunction against the British-registered pipeline company in which TotalEnergies holds its largest single African infrastructure stake.
TotalEnergies holds a 62% controlling stake in the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline, the 1,443-kilometre heated conduit designed to carry Uganda's Lake Albert crude south to Tanzania's Tanga port — making the French supermajor the decisive actor in a $5-billion project that Ugandan farmers are now challenging in a London court.2
Four farmers filed a UK High Court case on Tuesday (2026-07-07), targeting EACOP Ltd, the project company registered in the United Kingdom, on environmental grounds, OilPrice.com reported. Law firm Leigh Day is handling the claim. Energy Voice reported on Wednesday (2026-07-08) that the action prompted accusations of "colonialism 2.0," a characterisation reflecting the opposition TotalEnergies and its partners face from communities along the pipeline route.2,3
TotalEnergies' African exposure extends well beyond the pipeline entity. The Economist reported in May (2026-05-19) that the company draws the equivalent of 450,000 barrels per day from the African region, nearly a fifth of its total hydrocarbon production, more than any other major. The broader Uganda development, in which TotalEnergies holds a separate 26.5% stake, is valued at $20 billion and expected to rank among the largest foreign investments in the continent's history. Rystad Energy estimates TotalEnergies' existing African plans would add another 374,000 barrels per day to its overall output.1
The pipeline's technical requirements explain why no cheaper alternative has emerged. Lake Albert crude is waxy and would solidify at ambient temperatures without continuous heating across the full length. The Economist identifies the conduit as the world's longest heated pipeline — a distinction that also means elevated operating costs and greater sensitivity to extended disruption.1
The legal strategy is deliberate. EACOP Ltd carries a British registration, giving Ugandan claimants standing in English courts even though the physical infrastructure runs through Uganda and Tanzania. Leigh Day has used similar approaches against major oil companies in home jurisdictions before; the principle is that a UK-registered entity can be sued in UK courts regardless of where its assets sit.3
The project is described by OilPrice.com as nearly completed. That changes the nature of the risk. Most capital is already committed. An injunction would not recover sunk costs but could delay first-oil revenue and push back the payback date on an investment the company has treated as central to its African production growth.2
ICE Brent crude front-month traded at $89.70 per barrel on Friday (2026-08-28). Prices at that level support greenfield African upstream economics in aggregate, but the pipeline's immediate fate is a legal question, not an economic one.
East Africa's reserves give scale to what is ultimately at stake beyond TotalEnergies alone. The African Energy Commission puts the region's crude reserves at roughly 4.7 billion barrels, with more than 70 trillion cubic feet of gas across Uganda, South Sudan, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to OilPrice.com. EACOP would deliver Uganda's share of that base to seaborne markets for the first time.4
Elsewhere in the region, Dangote Group on Friday (2026-08-21) offered East African governments a collective 30% equity stake in its planned Kenyan refinery, with Kenya's 10% share described by President Ruto's chief economic adviser as carrying material value. The offer signals that investment appetite for East African energy infrastructure remains active even as the court case creates an overhang on the region's most advanced project.5
The next signal is whether the UK High Court grants interim relief before the full case reaches a hearing. Leigh Day cases of this type have run for years; an interim injunction could disrupt commissioning schedules on a pipeline TotalEnergies has spent years building and needs to begin generating revenue. That is the variable holders of TotalEnergies equity will be watching most closely.