20 March 2013, Kampala – Uganda President Yoweri Museveni has urged oil companies to exploit the investment potential in Uganda for their benefit and that of the country.
He was speaking during a recent meeting with Jacques Marraud des Grottes, Vice-President, exploration and production, for French oil giant, Total, at his county home in Kisozi, Gomba district.
Museveni and Marraud des Grottes discussed the development of the country’s oil industry, including the construction of the oil refinery and pipe line, at the meeting attended by Uganda’s energy and mineral development ministry Eng. Irene Muloni and finance state minister Fred Omach.
In addition to its recently acquired interests in Uganda, Total has stakes in exploration and production in Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The recent oil and gas discoveries within the East African basin have primed the region as potential gas exporters in the world.
Uganda struck commercial hydrocarbons in the Albertine rift basin near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2006.
A total of 87 wells have since been drilled in the country, 76 of which have been found to contain hydrocarbon deposits. The country estimates total crude reserves at 3.5 billion barrels.