Govt looks to new oil deals

New oil investors

Irene Batebe, the Acting Commissioner (midstream) in the Petroleum Directorate noted that irrespective of the current challenges the government will continue pursuing its targets.

The government expects more companies to come and invest in the country’s upstream (exploration and production) sub-sector.

On the new investment front, the Energy ministry is looking at two licensees; the Nigerian firm, Oranto Petroleum Ltd and Australian firm Armour Energy pty Ltd that are already carrying out seismic surveys.

The government is also reviewing applications for production licences over the Lyec field in exploration area 1A, Mpyo and Jobi-East fields in Exploration Area 1 operated by Total. These could be approved in this Financial Year 2019/20.

All eyes are on the second licensing round which was launched in May at the East African Petroleum Conference and Exhibition held in Mombasa.

“We are very hopeful that prospective investors will pick interest in the request for qualification and participate in the bidding process for the opened up exploration areas,” Batebe said, “We seek to produce first oil by 2022 and we hope that the crude oil pipeline will be in place by 2022 and the oil refinery will be up and running by 2023.”

“We seek to establish additional reserves because this is very critical for the sustainability in terms of additional crude oil over and above what has been discovered so far,” she added.

Uganda’s Albertine Graben is now a mature oil and gas province with nine production licences already issued to Total E&P Uganda, CNOOC Uganda Ltd and Tullow Uganda Operations Pty Ltd, she said.

Batebe said the government plan is to continue to assess the country’s petroleum potential, support the national content policy, and upgrade existing geochemical laboratories, and supervise the FID and ESIA for the oil refinery and the EACOP.

Before Tullow’s announcement that its SPAs with Total and CNOOC had expired and Total’s subsequent announcement that it was suspending activities on the Pipeline, the Joint Venture Partners were frantically working to pump first oil by 2022.  Although the government remains determined to follow that timeline, it also appears to be working on a longer-term plan.

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