From East African Business Week

The government is not intentionally delaying production of oil, but rather taking necessary precautionary measures to get the best out of industry.

Ernest Rubondo, the Commissioner Petroleum Exploration and Production Department in the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development  was speaking at PetroAfricanus cocktail  last week.

“It’s not true that Uganda is slow in processing oil production. The circumstance under which we discovered our oil and gas are different if you compare to other countries like Ghana, Norway or Mexico,” Rubundo said.

He launched a book authored by Duncan Clarke and Babette van Gessel called ‘Three Decades in the Long Grass: The Story of Global Pacific and Partners’.

The event was organised by Uganda Chamber of Mines and Petroleum and Global Pacific Partners, a leading advisory and research firm boosting of over three decades of experience in the upstream oil and gas industry.

 “In Uganda, oil was discovered in the middle of the continent not in ocean like other countries producing oil and gas. This means Uganda needs to put the right infrastructures in place. When this is put in place the time will be shorter,” he said.

At the moment Uganda is working out plans to construct a refinery with an initial output capacity of 30,000 barrels per day before upgrading it to full capacity of 60,000 barrels per day.

The commissioner explained that government believes that it must understand the industry before it starts any business.

Read more at East African Business Week