From New Vision

Four out of six shortlisted firms have submitted proposals to government for the role of lead investor for the development of the 60,000 barrels per day (BPD) oil refinery and related downstream infrastructure in the country.

Fred Kabagambe-Kaliisa, permanent secretary ministry of energy and mineral development in a statement on Wednesday said: “The response to our Request for Proposal (RFP) attests to the competitiveness of Uganda’s refinery project and the East African region’s business environment that provides an excellent investment destination”.

Adding: “We expect that the bids submitted will be in line with Government’s requirements for a credible, experienced and financially capable partner to work with Uganda to develop a refinery.”

Government is acquiring 29 Square kilometers of land in Buseruka sub-county, Hoima district through implementation of a resettlement action plan that provides for compensation and resettlement of project affected persons. The land will be used to construct the refinery.

The permanent secretary said the submission of the bids follows a bidders’ conference that was held in March, 2014 in Kampala, Uganda. The conference gave an opportunity to the prospective bidders to be briefed on the project and obtain clarifications regarding the Request for Proposal (RFP). They visited the refinery project site being acquired by government and some of the oil fields and met with the upstream oil companies to have a dialogue on crude supply arrangements for the refinery.

The four shortlisted firms and consortia that have submitted proposals are led by: the China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau (CPPB) from China, Marubeni Corporation from Japan, RT – Global Resources from Russia and SK Group from South Korea.

Read more at New Vision