Uganda is expected to announce the winner of the bid for its new 60,000 barrel per day (bpd) oil refinery project this month, the country’s Minister for Energy and Mineral Development, Dr. Ruth Ssentamu Nankabirwa, has said.
Four companies submitted bids for the project which will be the country’s first oil refinery.
The East African nation is expecting its first oil by 2025.
“The refinery is supposed to receive 60,000 barrels of crude oil every day. I hope out of the four that we have, one will convince us they will fast-track its development,” Nankabirwa said as quoted by Reuters.
Nankabirwa also said the Ugandan government was worried that talks with Chinese insurance company, Sinosure, to help finance the 1,445-kilometre (898-mile) East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) were taking too long.
She said Sinosure was not moving at the speed that Uganda required, with the Chinese company suggesting it would only announce its final decision on the project by June next year, potentially too late.
“We need just about US$3 billion to conclude the financing of this crude pipeline and the more we delay, the more expensive the project will become,” Nankabirwa said.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com