By Henry Mukasa
President Yoweri Museveni yesterday received oil samples from a well in Lake Albert where Australian firm Hardman has confirmed commercial quantity.
The sample was from Waraga 1 Well in Kaiso – Tonya in Hoima district.

Hardman chairman Alan Burns and country representative John Morley handed over the samples to the President at State House Nakasero in Kampala.

“Mr. Burns informed President Museveni of various tests that include the burning process which has indicated that the oil is clean,” State House said in a statement last evening.

“He assured the President that although they are operating in other countries, such as Trinidad, Mauritania and Guyana, they are going to dedicate much of their time and resources to the exploration of oil in Uganda,” the statement added. It said Museveni was happy with the progress and hoped further exploration would yield better results.

Finance and economic planning minister Ezra Suruma, Daudi Migereko for energy and mineral development, Kamanda Bataringaya for minerals and his permanent secretary Fred Kabagambe Kaliisa attended the meeting.

Earlier this week, reports said the flow rate of the lowermost zone of the Waraga-1 well, where Hardman has been testing over the last one week, has expanded to 4,200 barrels of oil per day (bopd) up from initial results of 1,500 barrels. One barrel of oil is equivalent to 150 litres.

“Following a shut-in period, the well
was flowed through a one-inch choke at a sustained flow rate of approximately 4,200 barrels of oil per day,” Hardman said in a statement on Tuesday.

Reuben Kashambuzi, the commissioner for petroleum exploration, said the initial find was very significant.

“Indeed, during this testing, we were expecting to find between 500 and 1,000 barrels a day flow rate. We are pleasantly surprised that it is three times our expectation,” he said. He said in other exploration, notably Angola, initially oil fields showed a flow rate of 200 barrels a day and went on to be very productive.

Hardman Resources Limited chief executive officer and managing director, Simon Potter, told an investor’s conference in London recently that the company had an active exploration schedule for the remainder of 2006.

Fresh discoveries of oil by Hardman have increased prospecting and drilling activity in the Albertine basin.
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