Hydrocarbons

African Countries in Perspective: Uganda

Elaborated by Author Source: Business Monitor International

Currently, Uganda’s confirmed petroleum base is currently at 6.5 billion barrels of oil in-place. This is also known as Stock Tank Oil -Initially-In-Place (STOIIP). Of this, between 1.4 and 1.7 billion barrels are recoverable. The country is currently working on two (2) development plans; Tilenga and Kingfisher Development Projects.

To successfully carry out these projects, UNOC, Uganda National Oil Company, partnered with some notable companies present in the country, both local and international. The partners include Tullow Uganda Limited, Tullow Uganda Operations Pty Limited, China National Offshore Oil Corporation Uganda Limited and Total E&P Uganda B.V. According to the African business news published on the 18th of September 2018, Ms Ahlem Friga-noy, corporate affairs manager, Total E & P Uganda said the oil and gas exploration company will reach the final investment decision (FID) on the Tilenga projects as soon as possible. She further stated that the first oil is expected in 36 months after the FID and about 230,000 barrels are expected in terms of production per day.

These projects allow for a couple of opportunities for the country, human capital development during the training process, infrastructure development and revenue which we all know to help buffer economic development to name a few.

An image showing the regulatory structure of hydrocarbons in Uganda and their priorities. Taken from: Greg Coleman (Petromall). Uganda and East Africa Hydrocarbon Plans. Copyright 2018 by Virtual University of Uganda

Uganda is also looking from the angle of sustainability which we must commend as the right move as some of their fellow African producers did not do this until they were neck deep into production. Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) is uniquely positioned to play a key role in ensuring the sustainability of petroleum resource production and reserve replacement in the country.

The midstream sector is driven by two subsidiaries of Uganda National Oil Company; Uganda Refinery Holding Company (URHC) and the National Pipeline Company (NPC). They are mandated to hold, on behalf of the government and UNOC, a participating interest in the Refinery and its attendant infrastructure such as final product pipeline at 40% and 15% respectively. That of the NPC is in the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) while that of URHC is for the refinery projects. EACOP is 1,445 Km East African Crude Oil export pipeline from Uganda to United Republic of Tanzania). The URHC will manage the promotion of the planned Kabaale Industrial Park. The 29.57 sq. km of land that will host the refinery, an international airport, petrochemical industries and energy-based industries among other supporting infrastructure while, the National Pipeline Company is mandated to develop, manage and operate downstream storage terminals to cushion the country from petroleum product supply disruptions (Coleman. G 2018)

 

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