Uganda unveils five oil blocks available for licensing

Created: Friday, 10 May 2019 10:47

Five new blocks were put up for the second licensing round in Uganda’s Albertine Graben

This announcement was made during the East African Petroleum Conference and Exhibition in Kenya by Irene Muloni, Uganda’s minister of energy and mineral development.

The minister said they were expecting many potential exploration companies for the blocks given that the current price of crude oil was high and very attractive for investment.

She added that the cost of finding oil in Uganda was very low at less than a dollar per barrel compared to the world average of two dollars per barrel.

“I am very pleased to announce that my five new brides are ready. They are very attractive and easy to find. I invite investors to come and take them up,” she said.

Muloni noted that the investment climate in Uganda was very conducive for investment singling out peace and security, infrastructure development, tax incentives and good human resource made of a young and educated population.

“Following this announcement, the Ministry will issue a Request for Qualification (RFQ) inviting interested firms and/or consortia to submit applications within a period of 6 months. Upon evaluation of the applications the successful firms/consortia will be issued with bidding documents comprising the model production sharing agreement and data sale regulations among others,” she continued.

The bidding process will take five months, resulting in negotiations and the signing of production sharing agreements between the government and successful bidders. The licensing round is expected to conclude with the awarding of petroleum exploration licenses to successful firms by December 2020.