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Monday, October 14, 2013
The government of Uganda is releasing a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to identify a lead investor/operator for the development, implementation, and operation of its planned 60,000 bpd refinery and other related downstream infrastructure. The Uganda Refinery Project will serve a large and growing market for refined petroleum products in East Africa and beyond.
The project is well placed to serve an addressable regional demand, which is estimated to reach 232,000 bpd by 2020.
Fred Kabagambe-Kaliisa, Permanent Secretary of Uganda’s Ministry of Energy & Mineral Development (MEMD), said: “We are committed to a transparent process to develop Uganda’s first oil refinery. This Project marks the start of Uganda’s energy independence and the refinery will enhance Uganda’s energy security by unleashing the opportunity of our country’s rich oil resources, which some have described as the largest onshore oil discovery in Africa in the past 20 years.”
Uganda’s refinery is being developed in line with the government’s National Oil and Gas Policy objective of valuable utilization of its petroleum resources. In addition, the development follows the resolution made in 2007 by the Heads of State of the East African Community (EAC) to boost the regional refining capacity in order to ensure security of supply of petroleum products and sustainable utilization of the crude oil resources in the region. A Regional Refinery Development Strategy, developed in 2008, was approved by the EAC Partner States and one of the recommendations in the strategy was for Uganda to develop a refinery to utilize its local petroleum resources.
The MEMD is committed to ensuring that Lake Albert-area oil discoveries are developed in a manner that best serves the interests of the people of Uganda. This project builds on significant Ugandan oil discoveries within the past decade, totaling an estimated 3.5 billion barrels of oil, of which 1.2-1.7 billion are commercially recoverable.
The project will deliver significant returns to Uganda’s people, including improved energy security, as well as transportation and energy infrastructure improvements needed to support local oil development in the Hoima District. The project will also help provide energy for the increasing demand, which is fuelled by rapid economic growth, of Uganda’s neighbors within the EAC.
The progress forward on the refinery project was conducted in a transparent manner according to the government. In 2013 the East African country’s parliament enacted the Petroleum Act which covers Refining, Conversion, Transmission and Midstream Storage, that will provide the framework for the development of the downstream petroleum sector in Uganda, which includes the refinery. The refinery’s site has been indentified and the process of lawfully acquiring the land for the refinery commenced, ensuring that stakeholders are appropriately consulted and compensated.
MEMD has received significant interest from several parties in connection with the development and implementation of this project. The project has been discussed with international oil companies active in Uganda, who will provide the crude oil feedstock for the project.
To ensure this project is grounded in sound strategy, in 2010 the MEMD commissioned a feasibility study on the refinery, which was conducted by Foster Wheeler Engineering Ltd.
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