The government of Uganda has awarded  to Tullow Oil Company an oil production license for 400 million barrel kingfisher oil well found in western Uganda worth 1.5 billion US dollars.

Irene Muloni, Uganda's Minister of Energy and Mineral Development

The long waited move will see a resumption of production activities in the Abertine Graben that had halted due to the expiry of Heritage Oil and Gas’s (which sold to Tullow) prospecting license and failure to apply for a production license.

The government and Tullow oil have signed the production sharing agreements for  kanywataba and pakwach basin oil wells  in Lake Albert rift Basin.

The oil production sharing agreements were signed by the minister of Energy and Mineral Development Irane Muloni on half of government and Tullow Oil Company General Counsel Graham Martin at the ministry of Energy and mineral Development.

Muloni said that in this new agreement Tullow will partner with Total and CNOOC  each having share holding of 33.3%to avoid monopoly of Tullow in oil Uganda’s production.

The move might not go well with some MPs and civil society organisations who had wanted the government to delay the signing of the oil production license until investigations into the oil sector are complete and a new oil and gas law is enacted.

Muloni however says that she will table the new oil and gas bill before parliament when it resumes its work next week so as oil laws are in place to apply them to open up competition in the oil industry.

Ultimate Media