East Asia's midstream oil and gas industry is an essential sector in East Africa's economy since most of the region's imports and export earnings are spent on petroleum products. The increasing demand for oil and the rising purchasing power of the citizens in the region has been boosting the growth of the market studied.

South Sudan was the leading oil producer in East Africa as of 2021. Oil production amounted to roughly 7.5 million metric tons in the country.

In 2021, the midstream sector became a pivotal sector for the East African countries, with the discovery of gas fields in the region and the governmental push towards reducing imports.

In April 2022, Sasol Ltd. announced plans to construct a gas pipeline and import natural gas via the proposed African Renaissance Pipeline (ARP) from the Rovuma Basin, opting for tanker deliveries of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to best tap into Mozambique’s offshore gas reserves.

In October 2022, the presidents of Tanzania and Kenya agreed to fast track the construction of a natural gas pipeline designed to increase trade and lower energy costs for both countries. The projected natural gas pipeline would run 600 kilometers between Dar es Salaam and Mombasa.

That was abled to be achieved due to the 2015 Mtwara–Dar es Salaam Natural Gas Pipeline project that was created in order to diversify the national energy pool and to take advantage of the vast natural gas resources onshore and offshore in the country.

A natural gas pipeline was designed and constructed, to deliver the natural gas to Dar es Salaam for use in power generation, industrial applications, household cooking and in the propulsion of transport vehicles. The estimated cost for the project is USD1.5 billion.

Hence, the midstream sector is expected to witness significant growth due to the increase in Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) consumption in the region and increased investment in the sector.

The oil and gas industry in Eastern Africa is quite a new sector compared to the Gulf of Guinea where oil was produced from the end of the 1950s onwards. Though some exploration took place earlier on, with companies such a Shell, involved in Kenya in the 1960s or in Uganda in the 1980s, a new frontier opened up during the last 10 years.

Eastern Africa finally came into their radar and heavy exploration began in 2006 with the activities of two minnows, Tullow Oil and Heritage Oil, drilling wells around Lake Albert in Uganda. In the past, the two concerns have known success after success and added to the market billions of barrels of new oil. Once more they have opened up a new hydrocarbons province, which has led dozens of oil firms to consider East Africa has a potentially huge and untapped reservoir.

After a long exploration period around Lake Albert, companies are on the verge of finalizing their investment decision and launching a pipeline across East Africa.

At the beginning of 2016, Uganda chose Tanzania over Kenya for the construction of its oil pipeline to the Indian Ocean, the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), due to cost and safety concerns.

EACOP will transport crude oil from Uganda’s oil fields to Tanga, Tanzania, a port on the Indian Ocean. The Uganda-Tanzania pipeline project will be 1,443km long with the capacity of carrying 200,000 barrels per day. The estimated cost for the project is USD3.55 billion.

Once completed, the pipeline will be the longest heated crude oil pipeline in the world.