Uganda Chamber of Mines and Petroleum (UCMP) will for 90 days showcase what Uganda has to offer in the oil and gas sector. It will also show Ugandans what has been achieved in the sector whose commerciality was confirmed in 2006 when the country discovered reserves now standing at approximately 6.5 billion barrels. At least 1.4 billion barrels are estimated to be economically recoverable.

The Chamber’s 90 Days of Oil and Gas Media Campaign under the theme, “Facts Behind Uganda’s Oil and Gas Sector” kicked off on August 1, 2023 and will run till October 31, 2023. 

Humphrey Asiimwe, the Chief Executive Officer of UCMP said told a press conference at Sheraton Kampala Hotel on August 16, 2023, that they are offering space for sector players to interact, network, and share opportunities for growing their enterprises and the sector.

Asiimwe said the 90 Days of Oil and Gas Media Campaign is one of those vehicles that UCMP uses to pass on information to the general public about what is happening in the sector.

During this third edition, stakeholders will be treated to weekly topics like financing, taxation, insurance, sectoral linkages, environment social and governance issues, regulation, women and youth, local content and value addition.

The signing of the Final Investment Decision (FID) in February 2022 by TotalEnergies EP Uganda, CNOOC Uganda Limited, the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC), and the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) kicked off a bevvy of activities in the sector.

The FID came at a time when the government had provided the National Content policy that ensures that Ugandans and Ugandan businesses participate in harvesting natural resources. With the upstream and downstream laws, the national oil and gas policy and the national content policy, the ground was set for Ugandans to partake in extraction of oil and gas.

In the ongoing development phase of the sector, an estimated $20bn will be invested in the country to achieve its first oil in 2025. A sizeable amount of this money is going to local contractors contracted to provide goods and services like food, catering services, insurance, logistics, transport and financing among others. 

The Chief Executive Officer of the Uganda Insurers Association (UIA), Jonan Kisakye, reveals that insurance companies have written premiums in excess of $6m. The logistics players are hopeful, having already tasted on this oil money transporting rigs and other related materials needed in the oil fields. 

Jeff Baitwa of Bro Group expects to see other progressive activities and the sustainability of what is going on. "So, I think the message for the people who will be participating in that don't look at the glass as half empty, look at it as half full," Baitwa said.

The Chief Executive Officer of Uganda National Oil Company, Proscovia Nabbanja, told the press conference that with a 15% shareholding in the Tilenga and Kingfisher project they are the 'first class' of local content in the sector. 

"Oftentimes, we are left behind when they say National Content; most people look at the local person and forget that government intervention towards National Content started with having a national oil company running the business aspects of the oil and gas sector," Nabbanja said.

According to Petroleum Authority of Uganda data, as of the end of June, 12,949 people had been employed directly in the sector with Ugandans taking approx.94% of the jobs. A total of 3, 871 (excluding EACOP) are from host communities. 

More than 4,000 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have been trained in key oil and gas business requirements. 

According to UCMP, cumulatively $7.086bn has been approved for spending by the oil companies and $1.762b (25%) of this is going to the Ugandan companies.

Uganda Chamber of Mines & Petroleum (UCMP) has announced that Humphrey Asiimwe has taken over from Cathy Niwamanya Wabomba as Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Patrick Mweheire, the Chairperson of UCMP Governing Council, in a notice said Asiimwe comes with a 'wealth of experience, skills, and professional relationships spanning 20 years of working experience including in the oil and gas industry as a contractor in the logistics sector.'

"We are excited to have Humphrey on board and look forward to the positive impact he will have on our organization in this critical phase of the oil and gas sector post the FID (Final Investment Decision),"     Mweheire said.

Asiimwe holds a Bachelors of Science in geology and a Masters in Management.

Wambomba, who has been CEO for four years, brings to an end her over 13 years of working with the Chamber in different capacities.

In a meeting with the parliamentary committee on environment & natural resources to discuss core issues & concerns in the Mining & Minerals Bill 2021, Uganda Chamber of Mines and Petroleum (UCMP) recommended that export duties on unprocessed minerals be scrapped off and the export ban on all mined products be lifted.

"Export duties are a crude tool to achieve value addition objectives when applied to licensed upstream mines because they will result in less upstream mining," Sir. Richard Kaijuka, Chairman, Board of Trustees, UCMP told the parliamentary committee.

"If export duties are used, they should be restricted to mid-stream activities where the main objective is to raise revenues on minerals that were produced w/o paying royalties e.g. Artisanal gold," he explained further.

Adding: "A mining law that requires a mining company to do midstream value addition fails to understand that most mining companies do not have the expertise, capital, and scale to do mid-stream processing,"  

Jervois Global Country Head, Dr. Jennifer Hinton. "Uganda is an unknown jurisdiction to most investors which is viewed as high risk but what investors are looking for among others; security of tenure, stability- considering 6-10yrs from greenfields to discovery of a deposit." pic.twitter.com/kQMHZcejct

— Uganda Chamber of Mines & Petroleum (@UgandaChamber) December 14, 2021

On the raw minerals export ban, Sir Kaijuka said the very companies the government should be looking to support are getting harmed. “We need to be systematic in order to help the sector grow sustainably," he said.

Sir Kaijuka submitted that Uganda needs to position herself as competitive & with a stable & robust regulatory framework particularly because it's a country that is not known as a mining destination.