Page 9 - DMEA Week 04 2023
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DMEA REFINING DMEA
Uganda to take FID
on refinery in June
UGANDA UGANDA’S planned 60,000 barrel per day (bpd) Prosper Africa and Trade and Development
refinery at Kabale in Hoima district is expected Agency also seen providing finance for the
to begin production by 2025, pending a final refinery.
investment decision (FID) to be made in June. Currently, the AGRC is assessing the planned
The project is projected to cost around $4bn, refinery on its environmental and social impact
but a more precise figure will be provided during post construction.
the decision-making process. In Q1 2021, the Ugandan government signed
In February 2022, Minister of Energy and a package of agreements with TotalEnergies,
Mineral Development Ruth Nankabirwa held China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC)
talks about the status of the refinery with the and the government of Tanzania on the con-
lead developer, Albertine Graben Refinery struction of the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline
Consortium (AGRC). The group owns a 60% (EACOP).
share in the project, with the remainder held by Those documents outlined plans for the
the Uganda National Oil Co. (UNOC) through construction of a 1,445-km heated pipeline,
its Uganda Refinery Holding Co. (URHC) the longest of its kind, capable of transporting
subsidiary. 216,000 bpd of crude from Hoima in western
AGRC is comprised of US-based Baker- Uganda to the port of Tanga on Tanzania’s Indian
Hughes GE, Italy’s Saipem and Mauritian-reg- Ocean coast.
istered Yaatra Africa and Lionworks Group. On This recent bout of refinery and pipeline pro-
the topic, Nankabirwa said: “I am delighted [to] jects take advantage of discoveries of oil reserves
work with AGRC, which started with the signing in-country. The Petroleum Authority of Uganda
of the project framework agreement (PFA) for mentions: “The National Oil and Gas Policy for
refinery project on April 10, 2018.” Uganda 2008 recommends refining the discov-
In August, the Africa Finance Corp. (AFC) ered oil in-country to supply the national and
advanced $20mn for the facility’s construction, regional petroleum product demand before
with the African Development Bank (AfDB), consideration of exportation.”
Week 04 25•January•2023 www. NEWSBASE .com P9
