Reported by
Faridah N Kulumba
Africa-Press – Uganda. Tanzania’s new female president Samia Suluhu Hassan makes her first official visit to Uganda to sign oil deals. She is expected in Uganda for talks that should culminate into the signing of the deal, as official from Uganda Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed to the Daily Monitor.
“The Tanzanian president will be on her journey in a few hours for talks, which will climax with the signing ceremony on Sunday,” said the official.
This will be President Samia’s first state visit since she was sworn in as the six president of Tanzania on 19 March 2021, replacing President John Pombe Magufuli Who died on 17 March 2021 due to heart condition.
The decision will unlock billions of dollars of investment in Uganda from a long awaited Final Investment Decision with international oil companies Total E&P and CNOOC this weekend.
Uganda discovered commercial oil deposits in its mid-western region over 14 years ago, but extraction has been delayed due to the protracted negotiations with the oil majors.
The late Magufuli was due in Kampala on 22 March 2021 for the three-way signing of the crude oil export pipeline deal between the government of Uganda and Tanzania and the French oil giant Total, the lead investor.
Magufuli had vowed that it would take as short as 18 months and wanted all the other processes fast-tracked, and the project due to cost USD3.5 billion Daily Monitor reported.
According to the concluded discussions, construction of the pipeline will be completed within 36 months of the signing of the deal and this will commence the commercial production of oil.
A six billion barrel-per-day refinery is planned to process crude oil and the finished products will be consumed by the local and regional markets.
Who owns what?
According to the current structure, Total South Africa owns 45 percent shares in the company, while China’s CNOOC holds 35 per cent. The Uganda government holds 15 percent through the UNOC, and Tanzania holds 5 percent through Tanzania petroleum Development Corporation.
Is the signing confirmed ?
Hebert Ssempongo a Senior Corporate Affairs Officer at the Uganda National Oil Company without giving details, confirmed to African Report that something was about to happen regarding Uganda’s oil. “Something major is expected to happen this weekend, regarding Uganda’s oil,” said Ssempogo.
The oil deal will pave way for the construction of 1440km crude export pipeline from Western Uganda to the Tanzanian Indian Ocean Port of Tanga, a key piece of infrastructure needed to get the East African country’s oil out of the ground and on to international markets.
It is an honour to get only Female President in East Africa visit Uganda. We hope that the oil funds have an impact on our country. Thank you for reporting