Uganda on track to begin crude production next year

Transcript

00:00Drilling at Uganda's oil production wells in the Albertine region is at peak level.

00:13All the 19 wells required for the first oil at the China Kingfisher oil field have been

00:19fully drilled.

00:21The Tilenga field, managed by France Total Energies, has drilled 164 wells out of 170.

00:30Uganda's national oil company says they are on track for its first production by mid-next

00:36year.

00:37The expectation is that when production starts, they will not have drilled all the wells.

00:43So even when first oil occurs, there will be some wells that will be drilled after that,

00:48which will back up these other wells that they have drilled first.

00:51So it's not abnormal that the investment will continue into 2027.

00:55And as you can trust, some of the conclusions of the infrastructure will be done after first

01:01oil.

01:02The crude oil will be pumped through a 1,000-kilometer heated pipeline from the Albertine region west

01:08of the country to Tazaniya's Tanga port.

01:13Close to 1,000 kilometers of pipeline have been welded, while another 200 kilometers has been

01:20tested and fitted in the ground, marking 74 percent of completion.

01:26Uganda has faced a backlash from activists on its crude oil pipeline over environmental concerns.

01:33These waste management facilities that have been put in the Albertine Graben are really state

01:39of the art at an international scale.

01:43These facilities include thermal desorption units, which are not common parts of the waste

01:49management systems.

01:51These facilities have been purposely designed and constructed to manage the waste generated

01:58from petroleum activities.

02:00So you will not hear of incidents of waste pollution from waste from the oil and gas activities in the country.

02:08Uganda's Albertine oil region is estimated to hold more than 1 billion barrels of oil and gas,

02:15gas, a resource that will benefit the country for decades.

02:19The projects are still commercially viable.

02:23I've told you that we are expanding on the exploration.

02:32I've told you that the mid-stream infrastructure will be utilized even after 25 years.

02:40We are making new discoveries.

02:44We are making more exploration to make sure that the refinery stays and the crude oil pipelines stay.

02:53Uganda's finance ministry estimates the country could earn up to $2.5 billion annually once production

03:02hits peak level.

03:03Uganda is edging towards becoming an oil producing country, signaling a significant step

03:10towards increased economic development and export revenues.