This comes barely three months after the government struck a deal with Tanzania that enables it to transport its crude oil through the pipeline to Tanzania at $12.77 per barrel (about UGX46, 800) following the concessional agreement with Tanzania.
Uganda has about 45,000 barrels of crude oil that were recovered during the testing stages of oil production in the oil-rich Albertine Region and the crude oil is stored in specialised containers at four sites; Kasemene 1, Ngara-1, Ngiri-2 in Buliisa, and at Tangi Camp in Nwoya District.
While speaking to the media 1 October at Kasemene 1 in Buliisa Mr Felix Ochiiti, a Senior Petroleum Geoscientist at Petroleum Authority of Uganda said although it is expensive to keep, the government of Uganda has kept and is still keeping crude oil at Buliisa for monetary value instead of burning it.
“I know there have been reports that Uganda is already selling crude oil, this is un researched, false and should be treated as here say. Our crude oil is kept here; look at the containers, the government has just embarked on searching for a buyer. We have advertised and got prospective buyers,” Mr Ochiiti said.
“And I want to report that the buyer has already been evaluated and we are ready to sell anytime from now,” he added.
Mr Ochiiti explained that the crude oil can be transformed into heavy fuel oil that can be used in the production of thermal electricity and that Uganda has a capacity to produce 6 billion barrels of crude oil with 1.4 billion barrels recoverable.
Mr Ibrahim Kasita, the corporate affairs manager of the Uganda National Oil Company (Unoc), said although there have been previous attempts since 2012, to dispose of the crude oil, all these were not successful.
Unoc is tasked with managing and marketing the country’s share of petroleum received in kind, in addition to other responsibilities as per the Petroleum Act, 2013.
The body was incorporated in 2015 under the Companies Act by the Uganda Registration Services Bureau as a private company wholly owned by the government through the ministries of energy and finance.
Social media influencers [Media] were in Hoima, Buliisa, L.Albert oil region to assess the progress oil refinery, oil pipeline as part of the tours see how Tullow Oil is making significant free cash flow from its low-cost production assets, with high-quality development and exploration assets that will deliver future growth for Uganda.
The tour was organised by the Petroleum Authority of Uganda [PAU].
Oil was discovered in Uganda in 2006 and since then, the country has not been able to drill (produce) oil for commercial production due to technicalities involved in the oil and gas industry. The production date has been shifted more than three times.