The Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC), also known as the National Oil Company of Uganda, is a limited liability

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

company in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

owned by the Ugandan government. The 2013 Petroleum (Exploration, Development and Production) Act of Uganda provides for the establishment of the national oil company. UNOC's board of directors was inaugurated on 23 October 2015 by the president of Uganda.

Location

The headquarters of UNOC are located in Fairway Tower, at 15 Yusuf Lule Road, on Nakasero Hill, in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

, Uganda's capital and largest city. The coordinates of UNOC headquarters are 0°19'42.0"N, 32°34'57.0"E (Latitude:0.328333; Longitude:32.582500).

Overview

The government of Uganda (GOU)'s goal as set out in the country's energy policy (2002) and National Oil and Gas policy (2008) is to ensure the sustainable utilization of discovered petroleum resources to contribute to early achievement of poverty eradication and create lasting value to society. One of the key objectives is to ensure an adequate, reliable, and affordable supply of quality petroleum products in the country. The petroleum deposits discovered so far are estimated at 6.5 billion barrels, of which 1.4 billion barrels are considered recoverable. The state can participate with between 15 and 20 percent in production, according to existing production-sharing agreements between the state and the three oil exploration companies:

Tullow Oil Tullow Oil plc is a multinational oil and gas exploration company founded in Tullow, Ireland, with its headquarters in London, United Kingdom. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. His ...

of the United Kingdom,

TotalEnergies TotalEnergies SE is a French multinational integrated energy and petroleum company founded in 1924 and one of the seven supermajor oil companies. Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil and natural gas exploration and ...

of France, and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation. It is the National Oil Company that will participate in production on behalf of the state. The

Uganda Oil Refinery The Uganda Oil Refinery is a planned crude oil refinery in Uganda. Location The refinery will be built on a piece of land in Kabaale Township, Buseruka Sub-county, Hoima District, Western Region, near the international border with the Democr ...

that is in the development phase calls for 40 percent participation by the state. The national oil company will invest in the refinery on behalf of the state. It is also expected that the new oil company will maintain a petroleum products retail network.

Financing

Plans were underway to develop a 60,000 barrel per day refinery to serve Uganda and its immediate neighbours. The refinery is being developed on a private-public partnership basis (60 percent to 40 percent). GOU is in the process of finalising the selection process of a strategic investor who will take up the private shareholding. The refinery is expected to boost the security of supply of petroleum products and provide an outlet for the discovered resources. In February 2022, Proscovia Nabbanja, the chief executive of the Uganda National Oil Company, said the project promised a tenfold return on every dollar invested. In July 2022, the ownership in Uganda's crude oil production facilities the Albertine Graben was as illustrated in the table below. This excludes ownership in the

East African Crude Oil Pipeline The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), also known as the Uganda–Tanzania Crude Oil Pipeline (UTCOP), is under construction and intended to transport crude oil from Uganda's oil fields to the Port of Tanga, Tanzania on the Indian Ocean. Onc ...

and the

Subsidiaries

UNOC has two wholly owned subsidiaries: the Uganda Refinery Holding Company headed by General Manager Michael Nkambo Mugerwa, and the Uganda National Pipeline Company headed by General Manager John Bosco Habumugisha. In May 2017, UNOC began managing the Jinja Petroleum Storage Terminal (JPST), which has a storage capacity of . JPST is joint venture between UNOC and a private company, One Petroleum Limited. The facility had in storage as of November 2017. In December 2018, the shareholders of UNOC resolved that the company will own 15 percent equity in East African Crude Oil Export Pipeline (EACOP), up to 40 percent equity in the

and at least 51 percent equity in the ''Kampala Storage Terminal'' (KST) to be located at Namwabula Village in

Mpigi District Mpigi District is a district in Central Uganda. Like most other Ugandan districts, it is named after its 'main town', Mpigi. Location Mpigi District is bordered by Wakiso District to the north and east, Kalangala District to the south, Kalun ...

. UNOC is expected to operate and manage the KST.

Governance

The board is chaired by Emmanuel Katongole, an economist and businessman. He is a co-founder of

Cipla Quality Chemical Industries Limited Cipla Quality Chemical Industries Limited (CiplaQCIL) is a pharmaceutical manufacturing company in Uganda. According to a 2007 published report, it was the only company in Africa that manufactured triple-combination antiretroviral (ARV) drugs. C ...

, a pharmaceutical company in eastern Africa and the major supplier of anti-retroviral medications in Uganda. He was first appointed in August 2014 and was re-appointed for another five years on 12 November 2019. The board members include Francis Nagimesi, a former chief executive officer of the defunct Coffee Marketing Board of Uganda; Francis Twinamatsiko, a principal economist in the Ugandan Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development; Grace Tubwita Bagaya Bukenya, a physical planner; Pauline Irene Batebe, a chemical/refinery engineer in the Petroleum Directorate of Uganda; Godfrey Andama, a senior geoscientist; and Stella-Marie Biwaga, a lawyer working with FIDA, Uganda. In November 2019, Zulaika Mirembe Kasaija replaced Grace Tubwita Bagaya Bukenya on the board. In June 2016, Josephine Wapakhabulo, an electric and electronics engineer, was appointed managing director and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

of UNOC, being the first person to serve in that position. In August 2019 Wapakhabulo resigned. After serving in acting capacity for 45 days, Proscovia Nabbanja, a

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althoug ...

, was confirmed as the substantive CEO, the second person to serve in that capacity.

First oil

In March 2018, UNOC concluded the bidding for transporters to move 45,211 barrels of waxy test crude oil, equivalent to from the oilfields in Hoima District, to the Kenyan port of

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

. The winner of the tender was expected to be made public in April 2018. At prevailing crude oil prices of US$60 per barrel, the crude, extracted during testing and exploration was valued at about US$2.7 million (KSh271 million). When the first bidding process failed to attract a credible buyer, the oil was re-advertised in June 2018. Failure to dispose of the crude oil before the Uganda oil refinery is completed, will make the refinery the default buyer. At the prevailing trading price of $74 (UShs280,000) per barrel of Brent crude oil, the 45,211 barrels could fetch about US$3.3m (about UShs 13 billion), as of June 2018. In November 2019, the Daily Monitor newspaper reported that Uganda National Oil Company had secured a buyer for the test crude oil. The crude oil is stored in specialized containers at four sites; Kasemene 1, Ngara-1, Ngiri-2 in

Buliisa District Buliisa District is a district in Western Uganda. As with most Ugandan districts, Buliisa District is named after its "main town" Buliisa, where the district headquarters are located. Bugungu has 6 sub counties KigweraNgwedo Buliisa, Butiab ...

and at Tangi Camp in

Nwoya District Nwoya District is a district in Northern Uganda. Like most districts in Uganda, it is named after its main municipal, administrative and commercial center, Nwoya, the location of the district headquarters. Location Nwoya District is bordered by ...

. At the prevailing price of WTI crude oil at US$55.06 (USh:202,048) per barrel, the 45,211 barrels could potentially yield US$2,489,318 (about USh9 billion), as of November 2019.

Bulk petroleum products trading

In March 2020 UNOC signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Stabex International Limited, an oil products distributor in the

African Great Lakes Region The African Great Lakes ( sw, Maziwa Makuu; rw, Ibiyaga bigari) are a series of lakes constituting the part of the Rift Valley lakes in and around the East African Rift. They include Lake Victoria, the List of lakes by area, second-largest fres ...

. UNOC will import oil products in bulk and sell them to Stabex for onward distribution. Other distributors are being sought. According to

The EastAfrican ''The EastAfrican'' is a weekly newspaper published in Kenya by the Nation Media Group, which also publishes Kenya's national '' Daily Nation''. The ''EastAfrican'' is circulated in Kenya and the other countries of the African Great Lakes ...

, the ''MV Uhuru'', a Kenyan vessel, owned by the Kenya Pipeline Corporation, transports bulk refined oil products (gasoline, diesel-fuel, kerosene and jet fuel) from

Kisumu Kisumu ( ) is the third-largest city in Kenya after the capital, Nairobi, and the coastal city of Mombasa (census 2019). It is the third-largest city after Kampala and Mwanza in the Lake Victoria Basin. Apart from being an important polit ...

to Jinja Petroleum Storage Terminal and UNOC distributes them nationally and regionally.

References

External links

Uganda: Wapakhabulo Appointed CEO of Uganda National Oil Company

As of 15 November 2018. {{authority control Oil companies of Uganda National oil and gas companies Non-renewable resource companies established in 2014 Economy of Uganda 2014 establishments in Uganda Government-owned companies of Uganda Energy companies established in 2014