President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni saluted Ugandan scientists for discovering oil resources in 2006 after the British initial attempt in 1920 who saw oil oozing to the surface at a place called Kibiro but later in 1956 established that oil existed but later evaporated according to the report of the commissioner of Geology by then.
Museveni made the remarks on January 24, 2023, as he officially launched oil drilling activities at the Kingfisher Development Area in Kikuube District that involved commissioning of the Kingfisher drilling rig for all 31 oil wells, including the deepest well which is over seven kilometres in depth.
The drilling rig, LR8001, arrived in Mombasa on September 12, 2022, and a total of 280 trucks delivered it in bits at the Pad-2 site in the mid-western Uganda district of Kikuube.
Its erection and installation works were concluded in November 2022 following third-party inspections.
The Kingfisher Development Area is operated by China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), one of the largest oil and gas companies in Uganda’s energy sector.
According to the Petroleum Authority of Uganda, the oil and gas resources that have been discovered in Uganda to date, are close to 6.5 billion barrels in place in the Albertine Graben.
Out of the 6.5 billion barrels, we expect to recover about 1.4 billion barrels, at a peak production rate of about 230,000 barrels per day.
President Museveni said the 6.5 billion barrels of oil are only 40% of the Muttanzige-Butungi valley, saying “there’s another 60% of that valley where we are going to look for more oil.”
These areas include; Moroto-Kadam Basin in Karamoja, parts of Lango and Kaberamaido which are part of the North Kyoga Basin and the Hoima basin (Kafu) between Hoima and Masindi.
Speaking at the function, Museveni said “I called the minister Chango Macho and the Permanent Secretary called Opio, and I said, you people look for Ugandans with bachelor’s degrees in Chemistry, Geology and Physics to go for a Master’s in Petroleum Studies. They will be the ones to guide us after they have studied. They went in 1987 and they came back in 1989,” H.E Museveni said, adding that the group embarked on the discovery of oil which they later found in 2006.”
“This is where I want to appeal to leaders. Avoid bumping into things you don’t know about ‘Okutomera’ in Luganda. If you’re not sure of something, ask and you’ll be helped. I’m very happy for these people (scientists) who went for training. When they came back, they didn’t let us down. I thank them very much and I salute them,” the President said, adding that this helped him to avoid making huge decisions on behalf of Ugandans which he was not sure of.
He also thanked the oil companies and partners for bringing their experience and resources to invest in Uganda’s oil industry.
“I want to thank CNOOC for moving, I hope others are also moving. We are therefore moving forward with the oil. Here, we are very careful. We shall develop our oil resources but also develop solar energy,” H.E Museveni said.
The President reiterated the government’s commitment to using oil and petroleum resources carefully for a long time now that Uganda has got capacity and expertise on what to do in the oil and gas sector.
“We shall look for all these oils and use them carefully for a long time,” H.E Museveni said.
The Kingfisher Development Area located South of Lake Albert in Kyangwali Sub-county, Kikuube District covers an area of approximately 344 km2. The Buhuka flat area where the Kingfisher oil field is located has eleven (11) villages.
