President Museveni is expected to unveil the name of Uganda’s crude oil today, a move officials say will give identity to the country’s oil on the international market. Mr Museveni will do the unveiling at the function that shall be held at Kingfisher Oil Development Area in Kikuube District.
In an exclusive interview with this publication yesterday, Dr Monica Musenero, the Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, said the name will give recognition to Uganda’s crude oil and differentiate it on the global market.
“Internationally, every country has a name for its oil and that’s what we are also going to do. It will be a great symbol for our oil resource,” she said.
She added: “We don’t want our oil to just be called ‘oil from Uganda’ but rather be identified by its name. It will be descriptive in nature. For example, Daily Monitor has a brand that whenever you hear about the name, you just know it is a newspaper which publishes in Uganda. Otherwise if Daily Monitor didn’t have a name, we would just be saying the other paper that publishes news.”
Mr Tony Otoa, the head of public and corporate affairs at Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC), said this development will unlock many opportunities for Uganda’s oil.
UNOC is a government agency responsible for managing the country’s commercial interests in the petroleum sector and is mandated to ensure the resource is exploited in a sustainable manner.
In 2006, Uganda confirmed its petroleum resource base currently estimated at 6.5 billion barrels of Stock Tank Oil-Initially-In-Place (STOIIP), of which, between 1.4 billion and 1.7 billion barrels are estimated to be recoverable.
Three joint venture partners including Total Energies, China National Offshore Corporation (CNOOC) and UNOC are operating various projects.
Total Energies runs the Tilenga Oil Development Area, who upon peak production will produce up to 190,000 barrels per day. CNOOC runs Kingfisher Oil Development Area, which will produce 40,000 barrels. UNOC is their partner.
Uganda's crude oil is characterised as a waxy, medium-to-heavy, and sweet (low sulphur) resource that solidifies at room temperature. The low sulphur content makes it "sweet," but it has a high wax content with an average pour point of 400C. This means it solidifies at room temperature and requires heated pipelines for transport.
To transport it from the Albertine graben where it was discovered to Tanga, Tanzania, where it will be further transported for exportation, the government in collaboration with joint venture partners and Tanzanian government are constructing a 1443km heated pipeline, which shall stretch from Hoima in Uganda to Tanga in Tanzania.
The Shs18 trillion ($5 billion) project is jointly owned by French oil giant TotalEnergies (62 percent), the Uganda National Oil Company Limited (UNOC – 15 percent), China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC – 8 percent), and Tanzania’s Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC – 15 percent) under East African Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop) Ltd.
“For years, Uganda’s oil has existed as a resource beneath our soil. It has been discovered, studied, developed and prepared for the journey from our oil fields to the world. This is the moment Uganda’s crude moves from being known by what it is to being known by what it is called,” UNOC said in a statement posted on its official X-platform.
Ms Musenero told this publication that the name has been carefully and locally picked and will describe Uganda’s oil.
“Remember with the exception of Sudan, which is not purely East Africa, Uganda will be the first East African country to produce oil in the region. Uganda is a special country and we shall unveil the name of our oil tomorrow,” she said.
Dr Musenero yesterday toured the Pump Station One at Kabaale in Hoima District to assess progress on the pipeline and preparations for its eventual operation, as the country prepares for her first oil on the date that would be announced soon.
Pump Station One marks kilometre zero of the 1,443-kilometre heated crude oil pipeline, which will transport crude from Uganda’s Kingfisher and Tilenga oil fields to the Tanzanian coast for export. Of the total pipeline length, 296 kilometres will run through Uganda, while 1,147 kilometres will cross Tanzania before reaching the Chongoleani Marine Storage Terminal near the Port of Tanga.
During the visit, Dr Musenero described EACOP and Uganda’s wider oil and gas projects as an opportunity to drive economic, technological and social transformation.
“I am happy to visit one of the projects that is set to positively impact millions of Ugandans and generations to come in terms of social, technological and economic transformation,” she said.
Joint ownership
The Shs18 trillion ($5 billion) project is jointly owned by French oil giant TotalEnergies (62 percent), the Uganda National Oil Company Limited (UNOC – 15 percent), China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC – 8 percent), and Tanzania’s Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC – 15 percent) under Eacop Ltd.
