Exploration & Production

Of the 38 global oil and gas discoveries made in Q3 2019, six were located in Norway followed by Colombia with five discoveries, Egypt and Trinidad with four each, and Guyana and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with three each, according to GlobalData, a data and analytics company

The East African country is conducting the second licensing round for petroleum exploration, covering five prolific oil blocks in the Albertine Graben, the country’s most prospective sedimentary basin

Speaking at a roadshow in connection with the licensing in Dubai on Oct 22, 2019, Irene Muloni, minister for energy and mineral development, said that Uganda hopes to embark on oil production by 2023, foreseeing the process of getting investors concluding in 2020 and making necessary arrangements needed for exploration.

“We welcome you to a long-term partnership with Uganda, providing the promise of a stable and predictable investment climate over the entire project life, clear regulatory environment and competitive returns,” she added.

On the status of licensing so far, the minister explained, “We have issued nine production licenses - five operated by Tullow Oil, three by Total E& P Uganda B V and one by CNOOC Uganda. These companies have now begun field development as a precursor for commercial production. We have Armour Energy and Oranto petroleum doing new exploration work.”

Ugandaissued investment licenses in an earlier licensing round that concluded in 2017 as well as in separate agreements with companies.

Muloni remarked that the environment is now good for the second round of licensing, due to high oil prices, further adding that the government of Uganda has reviewed the needs of investors to make the projects more attractive.

The minister pointed towards the peace and stability enjoyed by the country as well as its young and educated population while highlighting the conducive environment that it offers for investment in oil and gas sector, which supports an attractive return on investment and achievement of sustainable development of the country’s resources.

She emphasised that investors will be able to look forward to the support of the government of Uganda in providing a sound investment destination, with new laws in place for more transparency and accountancy.

Ugandais now an established petroleum province with an estimated in-place volume of petroleum resources of 6bn bbl of oil equivalent to 1.4 bn bbl recoverable and over 500 bn cfg.

The opportunities provided by the country’s oil and gas sector also include geoscientific surveys and studies for exploration, drilling and related services, investments in emerging infrastructure such as the refinery project, pipelines and storage facilities as well as joint ventures and farm in arrangements with companies holding licenses. The country has earlier held investor roadshows in Houston as well as in London.

Dubai-based Dragon Oil, a unit of Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC), has acquired BP’s stake in The Gulf of Suez Oil Company (GUPCO Egypt) after obtaining the approval from the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources

Gazprom Neft and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) have entered into a framework agreement on strategic cooperation