Uganda in July last year terminated negotiations with a
consortium that included a unit of U.S. firm Baker Hughes (BKR.O), opens new
tab over its failure to mobilise financing in time.
Uganda is counting on the 60,000 barrel-per-day refinery for
its nascent hydrocarbons industry.
"Expressions of interest were received from several
potential investors and they were evaluated ... following which a memorandum of
understanding was signed on the 22 of December 2023," Minister of Energy
and Mineral Development Ruth Nankabirwa said at a news conference.
Negotiations on the key commercial details between the
government and United Arab Emirates-based Alpha MBM Investments started on Jan.
16 and are expected to be completed within three months, she added.
Alpha MBM Investments' website says it is led by Sheikh
Mohammed bin Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum, a member of Dubai's royal family.
Uganda expects to start pumping crude commercially in 2025
from fields in the Albertine rift basin in the country's west near the border
with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The fields are jointly operated by the Ugandan government
via the state-run Uganda National Oil Company, China's CNOOC (0883.HK), opens
new tab and France's TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA), opens new tab.
President Yoweri Museveni's government wants to process some
of its crude domestically to boost employment and benefit from technology
transfer.
Nankabirwa also said Uganda had on Tuesday issued a licence
to CNOOC to produce Liquefied Petroleum Gas at a plant to be constructed in the
Kingfisher development area that CNOOC operates.
Kingfisher is one of Uganda's two commercial oil development
fields. The second, Tilenga, is operated by TotalEnergies.
The minister did not say how much gas CNOOC would produce annually. Uganda's gas reserves are estimated at 500 billion cubic feet. -Reuters