The second wave of new oil block licenses granted to the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) and DGR Energy Turaco Uganda SMC brought in $2 million (Shs7.5 billion) for the Ugandan Ministry of Energy.
According to africa.businessinsider.com, the two businesses are expected to pay annual acreage leasing costs for the exploration areas, annual research and training expenses, and exploration area exploration fees.
The fees, which range from $10,000 (Shs37.2m) to $200,000 (Shs745m), are paid yearly to the Petroleum Fund, which is under the control of the Ministry of Finance and serves as a depository for all government revenues derived from petroleum-related activities. The Petroleum Fund has accounts with the Bank of Uganda and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in the US.
While DGR Global will explore the Turaco oil block, a stretch of 635 kilometres and the Kanywataba Exploration Area at the southern tip of Lake Albert in Ntoroko District, UNOC will be exploring the Kasurubani Contract Area, a stretch of more than 1,285 kilometres, spanning the districts of Masindi, Hoima and Buliisa.
At the signing of production sharing agreements recently between the government and DGR Energy, which also received an exploration license for the Turaco Contract Area, Energy Minister Ruth Nankabirwa announced the revenues.
A drilling rig is being sought for Armour Energy’s exploratory efforts, according to Mr. Pru Fogarty, the executive general manager of DGR Energy’s subsidiary.
Irene Batebe, the permanent secretary for the Energy Ministry, stated that the second licensing cycle aims to draw more investment into the oil and gas industry.
“We want to expand the country’s resource base, which stands currently at 6.5 billion barrels, with 1.4 billion barrels recoverable,” she said.
A petroleum exploration license with an acreage of 635 kilometers and a four-year exploration period split into two exploration periods of two years each is one of the key components of the production-sharing agreement between the government and DGR Energy. Another is a minimum work schedule that includes geological, geochemical, and geophysical studies as well as one firm well and existing 2D and 3D seismic data reprocessing.
Along with other provisions, it also includes an advisory committee made up of government and licensee representatives, payment of royalties based on the gross daily production in barrels, a cost recovery limit of 65 percent for both gas and oil and production sharing based on the recovery-factor, which is dependent on the project’s profitability.
