International Oil and Gas Companies are going ahead to make their Final Investment Decision (FID) for the Ugandan oil projects following the passage of the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) (Special Provisions) Bill 2021, Mr Ali Ssekatawa, the Director Legal and Corporate Affairs at the Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU), has said.
“The EACOP Bill will also enable UNOC (Uganda National Oil Company) to meet its financial obligation as a Joint Venture Partner (JVP) and create a harmonised law for operationalisation of the EACOP in Uganda and Tanzania,” Mr Ssekatawa said.
Speaking to over 30 editors from both the traditional and new media at a workshop, Mr Ssekatawa said the oil companies are issuing contracts for the Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) work packages and the site clearance works for the Tilenga project industrial area that will host the Central Processing Facility (CPF) and base camps.
“What remains to fully spur the development phase into motion is passing of the enabling legislation for the EACOP,” he said.
Explaining why UNOC wanted to spend at the source instead of waiting for Parliament’s budget approval, Mr Ssekatawa said UNOC was a company incorporated under the Company Act in 2013 and, therefore, could not operate like any other government department.
“What the Civil Society is demanding is to have UNOC operate like a Corporation, Agency or Authority of Government. This cannot be the case because UNOC is a company like any other private entity doing business,” Mr Ssekatawa clarified.
Mr Ssekatawa added that “the Bill will also enable UNOC to pay its share of the transportation fees without attracting penalties and all National Oil Companies (NOCs) operate similarly and not as statutory agencies.”
The UNOC was established as a commercial entity to do business on behalf of the Government of Uganda. However, this can only be achieved once the EACOP Bill is passed with the current clauses without amending them.
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Ms Gloria Sebikari, the Manager of Corporate Affairs at the PAU, said the editors’ training workshop was necessitated by the need to equip them with the requisite knowledge on the oil and gas sector.
“The oil and gas sector has transitioned to the development and production phase. This, therefore, requires you as gatekeepers to be ahead of the people you supervise and ensure that objective and factual information is shared on your platforms,” Ms Sebikari said.
The editors appreciated the workshop and appealed for more engagements to keep abreast with the activities taking place in the sector.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com