As preparations for Uganda’s oil production nears completion, CNOOC Uganda Limited, an oil and gas company has announced that its first batch of CNOOC Operated Oilfield Drilling Equipment will be in Uganda soon.
“Steps to first oil. @CNOOCUgandaLtd Kingfisher oilfield rig reaches Mombasa port and will soon be in Uganda. We are committed to delivering first oil to Uganda and there’s no turning back,” the company announced on Twitter.
Recently, the company launched the heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers training and licensing program 2022 that will see 110 drivers trained, licensed and certified to professionally drive heavy goods trucks and trailers (class CH License) or rigid trucks (class CM license) in accordance with the East African community curriculum.
The training will be executed by Uganda Driving Standards Agency (UDSA) on behalf of CNOOC to meet the skills gaps in the logistics and transportation competencies especially in the oil and gas sector in Uganda.
This training will enable the trained drivers to explore and acquire more expertise in heavy goods vehicles driving and road safety which is well in line with the national content promotion guidelines.
The selection of trainees in this particular cohort was undertaken in partnership with Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom that supported the identification and selection of trainees from 8 districts of Kikuube, Hoima, Masindi, Buliisa, Kiryandongo, Kakumiro, Kibaale and Kagadi. The partnership with the Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom was aimed at host community content enhancement for potential beneficiaries from the Bunyoro Sub-Region that hosts the Kingfisher Project.
Mathew Kyaligonza, the National Content Manager CNOOC Uganda Limited clearly elaborated that the key objectives of this training are to:
Ugandan enterprises urged to explore regional oil and gas opportunities“Train Ugandan HGV drivers and support them to obtain required driving licenses (class CH license for truck and trailer or class CM license for rigid trucks); so that they are eligible for transportation and logistics related jobs in the oil & gas and other sectors.”
With a total investment of approximately $10 billion, the Lake Albert development encompasses the Tilenga and Kingfisher upstream oil projects in Uganda and the construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) in Uganda and Tanzania.
The Tilenga project, operated by TotalEnergies, and the Kingfisher project, operated by CNOOC, are expected to start producing in 2025 and to reach a cumulative plateau production of 230,000 barrels per day.
The upstream partners are TotalEnergies (56.67%), CNOOC (28.33%) and UNOC (15%). Production from the oil fields in Uganda will be transported to the port of Tanga in Tanzania through the EACOP cross-border pipeline, whose shareholders are TotalEnergies (62%), UNOC (15%), TPDC (15%) and CNOOC (8%).
All partners are committed to implementing these projects in an exemplary manner, taking into consideration the environmental and biodiversity stakes, as well as the rights of the concerned communities, in accordance with the stringent performance standards of the International Finance Corporation (IFC). In this context, the land acquisition program is currently underway, incorporating areas of improvement identified by independent third-party reviews performed after the first phase of this program led in 2018-2019.
