Uganda will start oil output “in 12-18 months”

IRJ – November 9 – An official speaking on behalf of Uganda’s energy ministry says that oil production will “begin in the next 12 to 18 months and it will be for power generation to support the power plants”.

Describing the phased programme behind Uganda’s plans to establish its domestic output setting, the permanent secretary for energy, Kaliisa Kabagambe, said that a 200,000 barrels per day refinery to meet domestic needs will be constructed within three years, and a 60,000 barrels per dya refinery is in the works within five years. The latter project, he said, would also then be expanded over a 10-year period to up output to 120,000 barrels per day.

“Right now we are going through a testing programme intended to make the companies and government understand how oil will be produced. Here we are storing the oil and it will be used for power generation and by cement factories,” he said during a parliamentary committee on the oil sector, investigating allegations of bribery.

Further news emerged from the meet when Ernest N.T. Rubando, the Commissioner for petroleum exploration and production from the department in the energy ministry, revealed that about 80 companies have so far applied for oil exploration rights in the nation.

“We have not issued any new exploration licence since 2008 until an enabling law is in place,” Rubando stated.

The committee has three months to complete its investigation process, and concerns have already emerged about whether any oil may have been unlawfully sold ahead of legislative agreements for the sector. Last month, members of parliament requested that laws for handling domestic production be tabled within the month. Despite energy and minerals minister Irene Muloni’s failure to adhere to that timeframe, she has assured that proposed bills will be put together by the end of the year. October headlines have been littered with reports that the U.S. may be seeking to partake in the nation’s emerging petroleum industries, and analysts have estimated that Uganda's Albertine Graben basin—a favourite of Tullow Oil where various discoveries have been made this year—may hold more than 6 billion barrels of oil.

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