Uganda shortlists bid round competitors

The Ugandan government has shortlisted 17 oil and gas companies for the country’s first competitive bid round.

The country’s energy ministry will award six licences for exploration of the Albertine Graben region, which holds around 6.5 billion barrels of oil.

Companies that made the cut include the UK’s Tullow Oil, South Africa’s Sasol and Thailand’s state-owned  PTT, according to a statement from the oil ministry on Wednesday.

The licences, which cover almost 3,000 square kilometres in the Lake Albert area in Uganda’s east, include Ngassa, Taiti, Ngaji, Mvule, Turaco and Kanywantaba.

Oil was first discovered in the East African country in 2006, and the government expects production to begin in 2018.

The finds have been made in the Albertine Rift Basin, which straddles Uganda’s border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.