The Kingfisher field is part of a $10bn scheme to develop Uganda’s oil reserves under Lake Albert in the west of the country and build a vast pipeline to ship the crude to international markets via an Indian Ocean port in Tanzania. The president [Yoweri Museveni] has officially commissioned the start of drilling campaign on the Kingfisher oilfield,” the Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU) said on Twitter, describing the development as a “milestone”. The East African nation discovered commercial reserves of petroleum nearly two decades ago in one of the world’s most biodiverse regions but production has been repeatedly delayed by a lack of infrastructure like a pipeline. At peak, Uganda plans to produce about 230,000 barrels of crude oil per day. The country’s crude reserves are estimated at 6.5 billion barrels, of which 1.4 billion barrels are recoverable. However, the plans to tap the oil at Lake Albert, a 160-kilometre (100-mile) long body of water separating Uganda from the Democratic Republic of Congo, have run into strong opposition from rights activists and environmental groups.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
More Stories
Pope Francis Condemns “Economic Colonialism” as He Arrives in the DRC
Encouraging Signs that Corruption is being Successfully Tackled in Parts of Africa
Zimbabwe’s Political Leaders have a Remedy for the Collapse of the Capital Harare
Botswana Cashs In
Scientists Discover Substances and Concoctions Ancient Egyptians Used to Mummify
Cutting Out the Schlep of Registering Nigerien Children
Football Transfers are a Million-dollar Market for Africa
Less than a Month Before Voting Day, Frustrations are Growing across Nigeria
SA Ports Could Lose Business as Three Mineral Rich States Opt to Use the Lobito Corridor
Bringing to Life the Countless Human Stories of Namibia’s Genocide
Trends for African Students Seeking Education Abroad
Floods and Landslides Batter Madagascar