Tokyo. Over the past few years, Uganda has been thrown into turmoil after the discovery of massive oil reserves in the northern part of the country. Debate about whether or not developers should export crude or refined products has risen, although the decisions are tending to favor higher-value refined products to generate more domestic revenue.
Drilling and refinery developments seem muddled as well. Iran and Uganda have entered talks about a $2 billion refinery with a capacity of 150,000 barrels per day (BBL/d), although opposing parties say that the construction of a refinery may be unnecessary, although Uganda's oil reserves have been proven to hold at least 2 billion barrels of oil. Those opposed to the construction of a refinery suggest that Uganda build pipelines to refineries in Kenya.
Heritage Oil plc (LSE:HOIL) (St. Helier, Channel Islands) and Tower Resources plc (LSE:TRP) (TRP) (London, England) plan to build a refinery in Uganda. Heritage and TRP have selected a site near Kampala for construction, although the companies have yet to select an engineering company to carry out design and construction.
Approval dates have been pushed back, and he Heritage-TRP team expects to receive approval toward the end of 2011. Construction has also been pushed back. Originally, the companies planned to begin construction in 2011, but it appears construction will begin in 2012. The $800 million refinery will have a refining capacity of 50,000 BBL/d.
Heritage is in the middle of a tax dispute with former partner Tullow Oil plc (LSE:TLW) (London, England) following the sale of Heritage's interests in some of Uganda's reserves in the Albertine Basin.
Heritage announced last year that it had discovered what could the largest onshore reserve in sub-Saharan Africa. The blocks in question were placed on sale toward the end of last year, and Heritage planned to sell them to Eni SpA (NYSE:E) (Rome, Italy). However, Heritage was pre-empted by Tullow, and sales were then redirected. Afterward, a major tax dispute erupted, and the Ugandan government was forced to reclaim the blocks late this summer.
 |
The Principles Of Project Management |
| Learn how you can deliver projects on time and on budget, again and again. Every project you manage will be unique. Scope, budgets, team dynamics, and timeframes will differ. As a project manager, the most important factor in achieving project success will be your understanding of 'The Principles Of Project Management'. | |
 |
