Page 13 - AfrOil Week 13 2022

AfrOil POLICY AfrOil

Additionally, he noted that representatives of where oil exists or where it is stored, the corri-
PAU, NEMA and OPM were scheduled to par- dors through which the oil is transported or the
ticipate in an oil spill clearance training exercise facilities that process or use large quantities of
led by UK-based Oil Spill Response Ltd in April. oil,” he said, according to The Independent.
Teams from the three agencies will then take Uganda is not yet a commercial producer
part in a full equipment and drilling exercise the of crude oil or natural gas, but it will become
following September, he stated. one when TotalEnergies (France) and China
“Other plans include supporting the devel- National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) bring
opment of oil spill contingency plans for the Tilenga and Kingfisher on stream in 2025. The
government lead agencies and local govern- fields may eventually yield as much as 260,000
ments and developing a framework for interna- barrels per day (bpd) of oil, and a little more than
tional collaboration on oil spills,” the executive 200,000 bpd will be exported to world markets
director said. via the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP),
a 1,443-km link running from Hoima in western
Focus on preparation Uganda to Tanga on Tanzania’s Indian Ocean
Speaking at the same event, Dr. Akankwasa coast. When finished, EACOP will be the long-
Barirega, the executive director of NEMA, said est heated pipeline in the world. ™
contingency planning served as the foundation
of all effective preparation for and response to
emergencies related to oil spills. “[The] legal
framework and the national oil spill contingency
plan establishes an effective and co-ordinated
national oil spill preparedness and response
system, including designating responsible insti-
tutions and response command structures,” he
was quoted as saying by The Independent.
He continued: “In the unlikely event that an
oil spill occurs, it is imperative that it is managed
well, and our first action should be to contain
and control the spill. Thereafter, [we must]
endeavour to respond quickly and in a well-or-
ganised manner.”
Barirega described the new plan as a scenar-
io-based document, explaining that it sought to
put forward all possible worst-case situations
and identify the contacts, resource lists and
strategies to be deployed when responding to a
spill, as well as the areas that might be affected.
“The contingency plan considers all pos-
sibilities of what could go wrong ... It has key
elements of hazard identification, vulnerability
analysis, risk assessment and response actions.
In hazard identification, the plan recognises PAU will take the lead in managing oil spills in Uganda (Image: TotalEnergies)

PROJECTS & COMPANIES
FAR outlines strategy for The Gambia*

THE GAMBIA AUSTRALIA’S FAR Ltd has revealed that its returns to FAR’s shareholders, as was done with
primary goal for this year will be to “focus on the $126mn in cash that the company received
value-creating strategies” for its exploration when it sold its stake in RSSD to Woodside
licences located in The Gambia’s offshore zone. Energy, the Australian company that is leading
In a statement dated March 29, FAR said the JV, last year.
its board of directors had opted to concentrate FAR may receive up to $55mn in contingent
on Block 2 and Block 5 after deciding not to set payments in the future, depending on world
up a new subsidiary to handle contingent pay- oil market prices and the timing of first oil at
ments related to the sale of its stake in RSSD, Sangomar.
the joint venture that is developing the Sango- An independent valuation expert has esti-
mar oil-bearing block offshore Senegal. That mated the midpoint value of the company’s right
subsidiary would have been responsible for to contingent payments at around $39mn, the
using the contingent payments to make capital statement noted.

Week 13 30•March•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P13