Oil and gas convention slated for April

The Uganda Chamber of Mines and Petroleum (UCMP) will host an oil and gas convention in April, the body has revealed.

The theme of the convention, which will be held on 26^th and 27^th of April at the Sheraton Kampala Hotel, is "Oil & Gas Doors Open in Uganda".

Irene Nakalyango, the Chief Execution Officer (CEO) of UCMP says the 2017 convention will bring together industry stakeholders to deliberate on how to take advantage of the numerous opportunities in the oil and gas industry in Uganda.

"The general consensus is that in order to achieve first oil by the year 2020, all stakeholders must coordinate and play their respective roles to fast track developments towards priority projects like the crude export pipeline and other pipelines, the refinery and storage facilities plus all the other relevant infrastructure," she said in statement.

"The need to develop industry specific skills to support these developments goes without saying. As such, it is imperative that the private sector identifies entry points along the value chain within which they can offer their various services."

After a period of somewhat slow activity in the oil and gas industry, many expect the sector to start making serious strides this year after government granting production licenses to Total E and P Uganda, Tullow Uganda last year, bringing to nine the number of licenses issued. CNOOC Uganda was granted a production license earlier.

After Uganda and Tanzania launched the design study for the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), more progress is anticipated this year on critical infrastructure such as the export pipelines and the refinery.

Speaking at an educative forum organized by the Society for Petroleum Engineers (SPE) last month, Ernest Rubondo, the Executive Director of the Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU) said massive investments are going to ploughed in the oil and gas industry before production eventually starts.

What is going to happen to Uganda between now and 2020 is extremely important, and it needs to be done well. Between now and the time when oil gets out of the ground, it is expected that $20b will be invested in this country, the GDP of this country is $27b, you are therefore talking about a country that has the potential of to have almost all its GDP invested in it in four years."