Faith Nyasuguta
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Tuesday commissioned the nation’s first of four oil rigs to commence drilling at the Kingfisher field on the shores of Lake Albert as the country eyes production in 2025.
The three other rigs will be installed at Tilenga.
The East African nation discovered crude reserves estimated at 6.5 billion barrels, with 1.4 billion recoverable nearly two decades ago in the western region in the Lake Albertine basin, Kingfisher and Tilenga oilfields.
President Museveni switched on the rig – a LR8001 deluxe land rig – installed in November 2022 at the Pad-2 site at Buhuuka village, Kibuube District. It is operated by China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and will start drilling 31 oil wells on four well pads.
Using the current oil prices of about $87.5 per barrel, the Kingfisher project will account for 15 percent of the total oil revenue to the government from upstream operations, equivalent to $6.9 billion for the entire project, or $360 million per year, Ernest Rubondo, the Executive Director of the Petroleum Authority of Uganda revealed.
The French Tota lEnergies’ operated Tilenga Project – which will produce 190,000 barrels of oil per day – will account for 85 percent of the expected oil revenues.
The rig at Kingfisher is expected to drill oil wells at varying depths, the shortest of which is about 2.6 kilometres, while the deepest is 7.4 kilometres, said Mr Rubondo, adding that the oil field extends about three kilometres into the lake.
The project is expected to produce 40,000 barrels of oil per day in 2025, but CNOOC officials are optimistic they could deliver the first oil ahead of schedule.
In its plans, Uganda seeks to export the oil and refine and support local petro-chemical based industrial projects.
