Petroleum / Mining in Uganda
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TANZANIA, 2017/08/07
President Museveni and his Tanzanian counterpart John Pombe Magufuli, last Saturday laid the initial foundation stone for construction of the proposed East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), as a gesture for joint political will, for the development of the multi-billion dollar project within the stated timeframe.
The event that attracted hundreds of residents at Chongoleani, in the northerly seaport city of Tanga in Tanzania, as well symbolised the start of the construction of the $3.5b (about Shs12.6 trillion) pipeline. It will run from Hoima in mid-western Uganda to Tanga port at the Indian Ocean.
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BOTSWANA, 2017/05/04
Ghana and Nigeria are the first countries to respond to reports of European companies exploiting weak fuel standards in Africa. Stricter limits on the sulfur content of diesel will come into force on July 1.
Governments in West Africa are taking action to stop the import of fuel with dangerously high levels of sulfur and other toxins. Much of the so-called "dirty diesel" originates in Europe, according to a report published by Public Eye, a Swiss NGO, last year.
The report exposed what Public Eye calls the "illegitimate business" of European oil companies and commodities traders selling low quality fuel to Africa. While European standards prohibit the use of diesel with a sulfur content higher than 10 parts per million (ppm), diesel with as much as 3,000 ppm is regularly exported to Africa.
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UGANDA, 2016/10/04
A Ugandan company backed by a Belgian investor is due to open the East African country's initial gold refinery by the end of this year to process raw gold produced mainly from the region, a senior company official told Reuters.
Uganda's mineral reserves are generally viewed as under exploited. Although there are gold deposits, it has no large commercial mine involved in production of the precious metal, leaving the field to smaller operators.
The country serves, however, as a transit point for gold exports from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which has large reserves, and Tanzania, one of Africa's major gold producers.
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KENYA, 2016/05/13
Uganda is to route its oil exports through Tanzania next a statement found the country was a cheaper and additional fasten option than its other east African neighbour Kenya.
Uganda is to use Tanga, a seaport city about 200km north of Dar es Salaam, to export its crude oil, rather than Lamu in Kenya.
The announcement was made last month at the East African Community (EAC) summit held just outside Uganda’s capital, Kampala.
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BOTSWANA, 2016/05/11
Oil, gold, diamonds, palm oil, cocoa, timber: raw materials have long been linked to Africa in a lot of businesspeople’s minds. And in fact the continent is highly dependent on commodities: they constitute as much as 95% of some nations’ export revenues, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
But propping a country’s entire economy on commodities is risky business, like building a mountainside home on stilts. You can’t be sure about the weather, or in this case the commodities market. The current free-fall of oil prices to less than $40 a barrel is a glaring example. “The commodities cycle has tanked out,” says Austin Okere, founder of Computer Warehouse Group (CWG), a Nigerian emerging multinational financial services company. “And this time it looks additional structural than cyclical, so it’s not a matter of waiting it out. Something has to give.”
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UGANDA, 2016/03/08
Three Nigerian oil and gas firms have submitted bids in the final round of Uganda's initial oil licensing.
The government received seven bids for the six exploration blocks on offer, Ugandan newspaper, the Daily Monitor reported.
A statement by the country's Ministry of Energy gave the three Nigerian companies as, WalterSmith Petroman Oil Limited, Oranto Petroleum International Ltd and Niger Delta Petroleum Resources Ltd.
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UGANDA, 2014/03/18
Having lost their traditional herds, the local people of Karamoja, Uganda, increasingly turned to small-scale gold mining as a meager but fairly steady source of gain. But with large mining interests moving into the region, even their gold could any minute at this time be taken from them.
As a child, Livingstone Ekiru's world revolved around cows. His family's herd was large, over 100 animals. Ekiru lives in Karamoja in northeastern Uganda, and his people, the Karimojong, have long been semi-nomadic pastoralists. Livestock is at the heart of their culture, and a man's worth is counted in cattle.
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UGANDA, 2014/02/23
Uganda's new, unannounced fuel crisis persisted this week, with pump prices increasing by at least Shs 200 per litre and speculators being blamed.
The northern district of Gulu is the worst hit. On Wednesday last week, motorists queued up at the only two Shell stations that had fuel along Andrea Olal road and Gulu Major street. Peter Ojok, a boda boda cyclist in Gulu, said he bought a 20-litre jerrycan of petrol at Shs 76,000 - each litre of petrol at Shs 3,800, up from Shs 3,600.
"I will sell out the petrol to other cyclists who cannot stand in this long queue," Ojok said.
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UGANDA, 2014/02/13
Uganda’s government signs agreement over pipelines and refinery, speeding up the commercialisation of oil production.
Uganda’s government has this week signed an MoU with Tullow Oil, Total and China National Offshore Oil Corporation, providing a framework for commercial production and building on an April agreement.
The government has been locked in a long-standing battle with companies over the development of its 3.5bn barrels of oil, which were discovered in 2006 and are mostly located around the Albertine Graben. It wants a domestic refinery, and President Museveni has criticised oil companies for opposing the plans.
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UGANDA, 2014/01/14
Following reports in the New Vision that the Government of Uganda is seeking a $115m World Bank loan for its Oil Region Development Project, World Witness is calling for better transparency in the murky oil sector before the World Bank approves any next funding.
"The World Bank should not hand over additional money to the Government of Uganda without concrete guarantees that it will manage its oil and mining sectors, and the revenues they generate, with complete transparency," said George Boden, a campaigner at World Witness.
Oil has the potential to help lift millions out of poverty but, if managed badly, as well risks entrenching corruption and poor governance in Uganda, as it has in other resource rich nations.
