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Uganda’s government has signed production agreements with the London-based company Tullow oil, worth 2,9 billion US dollar, that ends a deadlock over future taxes to the state coffers.
The deals pave the way for a 10 billion dollar investment in a refinery and crude oil export pipeline, both on Ugandan soil, writes BBC online Friday.
Tullow will sell two-thirds of its interest in the Lake Albert Rift Basin to a Chinese company, CNOOC and the French firm, Total.
Uganda’s Oil Minister Irene Muloni said Tullow had accepted the government’s revisions to “stabilisation clauses” which are included in the contracts to protect companies from future losses if the government alters tax laws.
The oil deposits and refinery should be large enough to meet Uganda’s needs, as well as those of some its neighbours, including eastern DR Congo.
Oil has been discovered under Lake Albert, the large body of water that straddles the border between Uganda and the DR Congo.
In 2010, the pressure group “Platform” said that Tullow Oil had framed a deal with no provision for the environmental or social impact of oil extraction in Uganda.
But the firm at that time stated the deal was standard and that its company practices would ensure environmental protection.
Oil extraction has been controversial in other African countries. In Nigeria, several militant groups claim to be fighting for a fairer share of oil wealth for local people, BBC notes.
Analysts say oil wealth in places such as Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Algeria and Libya has brought little benefit to the general population.
