President Yoweri Museveni has broken ground for the construction of the 320-million-litre Kampala Storage Terminal.
Located on 300 acres of land in Namwabula Mpigi District, this project is a critical infrastructure milestone aimed at more than doubling Uganda’s petroleum reserves and strengthening regional energy security
Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) in partnership with global energy trader Vitol are undertaking this massive $310 million (approx. Shs 1.22 trillion) infrastructure project .
The contract effective date was September 18, 2026. and detailed engineering designs will wrap up by March 2027, with full commissioning expected within 24 months, around September 2028.
President Yoweri Museveni warned local communities against encroaching on nearby papyrus wetlands.
He also directed local authorities to immediately relocate a nearby garbage dumping site, calling its proximity to a mega fuel terminal highly hazardous, and suggested shifting toward waste incineration instead.
Museveni said the planned capacity should not be viewed as the final solution to Uganda’s fuel security needs.
He refered to delays in addressing weaknesses in the country’s petroleum supply system, arguing that Uganda needs substantially larger reserves to withstand prolonged disruptions. Once completed, the terminal will shift Uganda’s total storage capacity from roughly 160 million litres to 480 million litres.
“Sleeping has been a big problem in Africa. In this sector, there was a lot of sleeping,” Museveni said.
The President recalled Uganda’s previous dependence on petroleum products purchased through intermediaries in Kenya and said the country had since taken steps to allow UNOC to participate more directly in fuel imports and distribution.
“We are now moving slowly out of sleep,” Museveni said.
The current reserves are heavily constrained across three main facilities which include, Jinja Storage Terminal: 30 million litres , Mahathi Infrastructure in(Kawuku): 70 million litres and Private Oil Marketing Companies with storage accounting for about 59.7 million litres fuel reserves .
This massive deficit often leaves Uganda vulnerable to supply shocks and price volatility. The Kampala Storage Terminal will serve as a strategic national reserve, a central distribution hub for the central region, and a primary supply point for regional markets.
Energy Minister Monica Musenero and security officials stressed the urgent need to expand rail and pipeline connectivity—specifically linking the terminal to the Mpigi Expressway—to eliminate heavy fuel trucks from destroying public roads.
Musenero described the Mpigi project as a strategic investment in Uganda’s energy security. “It will secure our energy security as a nation. It is going to be a strategic positioning project for the country,” Musenero said.
UNOC Board Chairperson Mathias Katamba said the terminal will give the country greater capacity to maintain petroleum reserves and respond to disruptions affecting international supply corridors and global markets.
The facility will also provide space for UNOC to manage its trading stocks, while allowing government to build and maintain strategic petroleum reserves. Oil marketing companies will also be able to access storage and handling services at the terminal.
A delegation sent by Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan attended the ceremony, tracking progress on joint East African efforts to establish a regional energy corridor running from the port city of Tanga to Uganda.
The current situation
Uganda currently consumes about 240 million litres of petroleum products every month, making adequate storage capacity critical to maintaining supplies during emergencies, market disruptions and interruptions along regional import routes.
The new terminal will complement the government-owned Jinja Storage Terminal, which currently holds about 30 million litres. An additional 10 million litres is being added at Jinja, bringing the combined government-owned storage capacity to approximately 360 million litres once the Kampala facility and the Jinja expansion are complete.
