Power and Peril: Inside Uganda’s Controversial Oil Projects
UGANDA—The Albertine Graben, a region teeming with biodiversity and home to vulnerable communities, is at the heart of Uganda’s ambitious oil drilling projects. With an estimated 1.4 billion barrels of crude oil at stake, the Tilenga and Kingfisher projects, led by TotalEnergies and CNOOC, promise economic transformation. However, the environmental and social costs are mounting.
The drilling threatens the Greater Virunga Landscape, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, endangering species like mountain gorillas and polluting critical water sources. Over 100,000 people face displacement, with many reporting inadequate compensation and loss of livelihoods. Women and marginalized groups are disproportionately affected, while climate activists warn that the projects undermine global efforts to combat climate change.
As Uganda stands on the brink of an oil boom, the tension between economic promise and environmental and social peril grows. The choices made today will shape the future of the Albertine Graben and its people for generations.
Read the full investigation into the environmental, social, and economic impacts of Uganda’s oil projects.
