Uganda Aims to Agree Refinery Partner Deal by Early Next Year
November 22 2016 - 10:01AM
Dow Jones News
By Nicholas Bariyo
KAMPALA Uganda--Uganda hopes to sign a deal with an investment
partner to kick-start the construction of a 60,000 barrels-a-day
oil refinery by February 2017, as part of a broader move by the
East African nation to develop vast oil reserves discovered a
decade ago.
The government has been in talks with several potential partners
over the $4 billion refinery, to ensure it is built by 2020, when
the country expects to commence crude oil pumping, the energy and
minerals minister Irene Muloni said Tuesday.
East Africa has been a focus for oil and gas exploration after a
flurry of discoveries in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania in the past few
years. Analysts say the region could rival West Africa as the next
energy hub on the continent, given its close proximity to
energy-hungry Asian markets. Uganda's oil assets are believed to
contain some 6.5 billion barrels of crude along Uganda's western
border with Congo.
In July, Uganda suspended talks with Russia's Rostec State Corp.
over plans to build the refinery and the government has been
courting other investors since.
"We are now in a fast track mode," Ms. Muloni said on the
sidelines of an oil and gas conference in Kampala. "There was a
setback during (the) previous talks, but we are now back on
course."
Sinopec Ltd is among the companies talking to the government,
she added, while French oil major Total SA (TOT)--one of the
operators of the country's three oil blocks--has agreed to take a
10% stake in the plant. Representatives for the companies couldn't
be reached immediately for comment.
The energy ministry expects Uganda's oil output to peak at
around 230,000 barrels-a-day by 2023, with the bulk of this
exported via a pipeline through Tanzania that has yet to be
built.
Tullow Oil PLC (TLW.LN), China's Cnooc Ltd. (CEO) and Total are
expected to invest $8 billion to develop its oil fields.
Write to Nicholas Bariyo at Nicholas.Bariyo@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 22, 2016 09:46 ET (14:46 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
China Petroleum and Chem... (NYSE:SNP)
Historical Stock Chart
From Feb 2024 to Mar 2024
China Petroleum and Chem... (NYSE:SNP)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2023 to Mar 2024