The Government of Uganda has successfully signed an agreement with a consortium of American and Italian firms to finance and construct a US $4-billion refinery in the country’s Hoima district. The project will be a joint venture with the country’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development and the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC), a limited liability oil company owned by the Government of Uganda.
The signing ceremony for the agreement took place on April 10, 2018 in Entebbe, Uganda. The agreement establishes critical terms and conditions for the oil refinery’s development and represents an important milestone in the commercialization of Uganda’s natural resource endowments.
The current reserves of crude oil in Uganda’s Albertine region are estimated to be approximately 6.5 billion barrels. The oil refinery is expected to have a 60,000 barrels-per-day processing capacity, and is expected to intensify production shortly after the facility’s inauguration. Ever since commercially viable hydrocarbon deposits were discovered in Uganda in 2006, the Government of Uganda has launched a development strategy which seeks to translate their presence into regional development and inclusive economic growth.
In August 2017, the Ugandan government elected to conduct negotiations with the Albertine Graben Refinery Consortium, which is composed of General Electric Oil and Gas, YAATRA Ventures LLC, Intracontinental Asset Holdings Ltd and Saipem SpA.
- KWS
