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Uganda approves CNOOC’s ESIA study for Kingfisher
PROJECTS & COMPANIES
UGANDA’S National Environment Man- agement Authority (NEMA) has acknowl- edged CNOOC Uganda, a subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), for its completion of a report on plans to develop the Kingfisher oilfield.
NEMA’s executive director Tom Okurut awarded a certificate of approval to CNOOC Uganda on March 9, noting that the state-run Chinese company had wrapped up its envi- ronmental and social impact (ESIA) study for the Kingfisher project. The issuance of the certificate lays the groundwork for the Chi- nese company to take the next steps towards development of the Kingfisher licence area, Ugandan media reported.
CNOOC Uganda president Zhao Shunqiang hailed NEMA’s move. “This is a great milestone for CNOOC Uganda Ltd and the development of the oil and gas project in Uganda,” he said. “It is a step closer to a final investment decision [FID] and realisation of [Uganda’s] first oil.”
For his part, Okurut said CNOOC Uganda and its partners in the Kingfisher project would help Uganda achieve its aims on several fronts. “We are pleased to issue this certificate in line with the principle of sustainable development,” said Okurut. “NEMA shall continue to maintain an efficient mechanism for sustainable environ- ment and natural resource management.”
The Chinese company began work on the ESIA document after joining the Kingfisher project in 2013. It spent several years collecting data and reviewing potential challenges and then submitted its conclusions to NEMA in Decem- ber 2018 for review, recommendations and then approval. The agency duly took that final step in November 2019.
According to the Ugandan press, this pro- cess allowed the company to make the changes necessary to bring its work plan into com- pliance with certain provisions in the 2019 Ugandan law known as National Environment Market Act No. 5.
Meanwhile, CNOOC has also held a series of public hearings and consultations in the Hoima and Kikuube districts. It did so in a bid to learn about stakeholders’ concerns, as these areas will be the most heavily affected by oil development operations.
Next steps
Now that the Chinese company has secured the government’s approval for the report, it is report- edly ready to move towards starting work on vital infrastructure for the project – feeder pipe- lines, yards and parking areas, work camps and a central processing facility (CPF). It may not be able to take that step quickly, though.
CNOOC is one of three shareholders in a licence area known as Block 3A, which includes the Kingfisher and Tilepa oilfields. The other two are Tullow Oil and Total. Tullow spent years try- ing to negotiate a farm-out deal that would allow it to hand part of its share over to its partners, but talks broke down last year amidst disagreements over the amount of taxes due on the sale of part of Tullow’s stake.
As a result, the parties were not able to meet their deadline for making a final investment decision (FID) on the upstream project. In turn, Total suspended plans for the construction of a $3.5bn export pipeline that would pump Ugan- dan oil to Tanzania’s coast. Meanwhile, King- fisher is no longer likely to reach the stage of first oil by 2022, as previously anticipated.
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 10 12•March•2020
