Uganda is set to start pumping oil in 2025, after two decades of “prospecting, investing, and construction.”
- •Western Uganda, which borders the DRC and hosts most of the country’s known reserves, has 6.5 billion barrels of oil reserves, with at least 1.4 billion estimated to be economically recoverable.
- •Uganda is currently a net importer of liquid gold, mostly through Kenya, and Kampala has been laying groundwork for its future as a net exporter.
- •Kenya and Uganda, engaged in endless trade wars, have been discussing the details of a pipeline extension from Eldoret to Kampala, and a few teething issues about Uganda’s decision to import oil by itself.
Uganda plans to transport its oil to other markets through the 1, 443kms East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), which passes through Tanzania.
“Our country’s upstream development is well advanced,” Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu, Uganda’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Development said recently, “Uganda is now able to offer investors the predictability they need above ground.”