The Minister of Energy and Mineral Development Irene Muloni has said that fuel supply to Uganda has remained stable in the medium term and is able to support the growing demand of 7% per annum for Petroleum Products.

“Rt. Hon. Speaker and Hon. Members of Parliament, the supply of Petroleum Products into the country, has been stable. Loading out of Kenya terminals of Eldoret, Kisumu, Nakuru, Konza and Mombasa together with Dar es Salaam in Tanzania is normal without interruptions,” Muloni said while presenting a report on the status of petroleum product supply in the country.

She said the import into the country for mid-September 2017 was 85,048,119 liters comprised of 34,699,986 liters of Petrol, 42,694,601 liters of Diesel, 2,653,532 liters of Kerosene and 5,000,070 liters of Jet A-1.

Muloni said tendering for supply of Products continues to take place monthly in Nairobi Kenya and that  a tender meeting was held two weeks ago for the supply for November 2017. she said the cargoes received through Mombasa port contributes 92% of the country’s monthly requirements while the reminder (8%) comes through the Dar es Salaam Port.

She said for stocks, the country has a combined total cover of 14 days’ supply. Of these, twelve (12) days are provided by the private OMCs and two (2) days by Government storage facilities at Jinja.

Therefore, in view of the above, Muloni said: “we are prepared and will continue to do everything possible to ensure a steady supply of petroleum products to the country.”

She said the strategies to keep the country well supplied hinge on the effectiveness of the import routes and the in-country storage facilities. In this case, Mombasa and Dar es Salaam ports together with other terminals in Kenya are all being utilized by Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to import products into Uganda.

“Through promotion of fair competition and effective licensing that has resulted in a good number of 43 active importing oil marketing companies in Uganda, the country has remained well supplied at competitive prices and we are able to support the growing demand of 7% per annum for Petroleum Products,” Muloni said.

Muloni while commenting on the preparedness of Uganda to produce oil and gas in the country said Uganda’s Albertine Graben is now a mature Oil and Gas province and has nine (9) Production Licenses issued to Total E&P Uganda, CNOOC (u) Ltd and Tullow Uganda Operations Pty Ltd.

She said the Front End Engineering Designs (FEED) for the above nine (9) Production Licenses are being carried out. “The FEED for the Kingfisher Field Development Area together with that of the fields in the Kaiso-Tonya area is expected to be completed by the end of this year.” she said.

Muloni said the FEED for the other seven (7) Production Licenses located in Buliisa and Nwoya districts (the Tilenga project) is also expected to be concluded in June 2018 after which, the Final Investment Decision (FID) will be made.

“The Field Development Plans (FDPs) for the three discoveries namely;- JobiEast, Mpyo and Lyec are being discussed between the Government and the Licensees for issuance of additional Production Licenses,” Muloni said.

Muloni’s comment on the preparedness of Uganda to produce oil and gas in the country, was in  response  to those who argue that oil production within, would make Uganda frugal when importing oil into the country and would reduce  dependency on imported petroleum and petroleum products.

Source: Business Week

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