The big boys in Uganda’s Oil and Gas sector convened at the 8th Uganda Chamber of Mines and Petroleum (UNCMP) oil convention held at Serena Hotel in Kampala and highlighted the opportunities the industry will offer to the Ugandan people .
Key sector players presented opportunities that are available in the multibillion dollar sector following the Final Investment Decision (FID) that was announced on February 1, 2022. The two day convention held under the theme “Maximizing National Content and Value Retention”, highlighted opportunities in the Tilenga and Kingfisher oil fields and along the 1,445 km East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) . some $15 billion has been put aside to commercialize Uganda’s oil industry by 2025.
The delegates said that contracts estimated at over $600 million out of the $3.9 billion for the Tilenga and Kingfisher projects have been awarded to Ugandan companies. Among the local companies that have been contracted include Mota Engil-Uganda civil works’ contract to prepare over 700 acres of industrial area for TotalEnergies EP, Uganda’s Tilenga project to host different facilities like the Central Processing facility (CPF), construction of camps, drilling support bases and operation support bases.
Mr.Earnest Rubondo, the Executive Director PAU said 28% ($980m) was retained in- country from the $ 3.5 billion total investment during the first exploration phase. Another 37% ($172m) was retained in-country between 2017 and 2020 from a total investment of $462m. It is hoped that about $5 billion will be retained in Uganda during the development phase.
“If the linkages between the oil sector and the different sectors like agriculture, health, transport, housing, tourism and civil works are properly harnessed, the economy will retain an additional $8 billion.”
The Minister of Energy and Mineral Development Hon. Ruth Nankabirwa, told participants at the convention that at least 4500 Ugandans had been skilled to work in the oil sector following a collaboration with over 120 institutions. The government of Uganda was also putting together a Local Content Development Fund to enable more Ugandans pursue oil and gas business opportunities, Nankabirwa added.
