Govt, UNOC has signed a production-sharing agreement and Issuance of a petroleum Exploration license for Kasuruban.
By Juma Nsubuga
The Minister of Energy and Mineral Development Dr. Ruth Nankabirwa on behalf of the Uganda government has signed a production-sharing agreement with Uganda National Oil Limited (UNOC) and issuance of a petroleum exploration license for the Kasuruban area.
The signing of agreements ceremony was held at the ministry of energy headquarters in Kampala.
Minister Nankabirwa applauded the people of Uganda for achieving an important milestone.
“Signing of these production sharing agreements for petroleum exploration, development and production between Uganda government and Uganda National Oil Company(UNOC) for Kasuruban contract area marks a significant achievement of Uganda’s competitive second licensing round for the Oil and Gas sector,” she said
Adding that this agreement arrests to the government’s commitment to fulfilling the objectives and principles of Uganda’s National Oil and Gas policy that provides for efficiency in licensing through open competitive bidding rounds.
“The Petroleum Exploration License awarded to UNOC in the Kasuruban block is in accordance with section 58 of the petroleum Act 2013, adding that this license marks a significant milestone for the competitive second Licensing round which was announced in May 2019 in Mombasa Kenya”. She stressed
The signing of the production sharing of Kasuruban was cleared by the cabinet, Ministry of Finance together with the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.
Relatedly the permanent secretary for the ministry of energy MS Irene Bateebe also said that following the enactment of the required policy, legal and regulatory frameworks for the Oil and Gas sector in Uganda, the government decided to implement open, transparent, and competitive licensing rounds as required by the petroleum exploration, development and production Act 2013.”Tow of Four qualified companies participated and submitted bids at the end of bidding stagehand UNOC won” she added
Meanwhile, the Chief Executive officer(CEO) of Uganda National Oil Company Limited (UNOC) has been awarded a 2-year contract, MS Proscovia Nabbanja says that UNOC has a cardinal role to play in the upstream valid chain to ensure sustainable utilization of petroleum resources in Uganda. ” UNOC also has the mandate to develop in-depth expertise in Oil and Gas industry. Adding that in order to achieve these mandates, UNOC has a strategic goal of becoming an independent operator in the long term” she said.
Nabbanja further conveyed her company’s (UNOC) gratitude to the Uganda government for the positive consideration of the application for a petroleum explanation license of Kasuruban block.