Oil and Gas investors meet in Kampala next week

AMBROSE GAHENE

Leading oil and Gas investors are set to converge at Kampala Serena Hotel next week for an oil and gas convention slated for April 25th and 26th.

This was revealed in a press conference held in Kampala on Wednesday by Uganda Chamber of Mines and Petroleum chairman Elly Karuhanga.

“This is set to be the biggest event of the year; a lot is going to be shared on those two days,” he said.

Karuhanga acknowledged that neighbouring Tanzania is going to allow Uganda’s crude export pipeline (EACOP) to go through their country and allow Kampala export its oil to the rest of the world while the people of Kenya are going to see logistics – trucks, almost over 2000 on the roads, on a daily basis, coming to develop Uganda’s oil.

“So we need to be on great terms with our neighbours. The people of DR Congo are likely to use the same pipeline. We have our friends in South Sudan, the people of Rwanda with their gas, Burundi with potential of oil – this makes Uganda a very strategic hub for oil development," he said.

“We are expecting participation from these countries. We will be looking at our partners, Total, Tullow and CNOOC to invite other stakeholders to come and play a part in the development of our oil,” he added.

Ahlem Friga-Noy, the Corporate Affairs Manager at Total ESP Uganda, speaking on behalf of the Joint Venture companies said Uganda’s oil development is at a crucial point and continue to attract attention from businesses who want to come and invest in the country’s nascent sector.

“We have made tremendous progress. I think that is a great thing to say because sometimes you hear perceptions that things are not moving well but I can tell you that things are moving and they are moving fast. Increasingly and on a daily basis, companies are coming looking for business opportunities. We believe that this is a very good sign of the dynamism of the sector and confidence businesses are putting into the project and into the economic environment in the country,”

Friga-Noy said.

Sam Thakkar, the General Secretary UCMP, said the convention present a lot of experiences from Africa from which Uganda and East Africa can learn from.

“We know the case studies of Ghana, Nigeria and Angola. We have got a lot of knowledge from them in regards to what should and shouldn’t happen. We are pushed to ensure that as Ugandans we are heavily involved.”

Leading sponsors of the event include Zakhem International Construction Limited, CNOOC Uganda; Total E&P; Tullow Uganda, Hima Cement, Stanbic Bank Uganda; WorleyParsons, Standard Chartered Bank Uganda and Turkish Airlines.

The two day convention will be held under the theme: “Regional Collaboration for First Oil”.