Oranto Petroleum International Uganda is set to sign two oil production sharing agreements with the Ugandan Government, which will enable the company to begin exploration work, the government said on Wednesday.
The firm was among a number of companies that bidded in the country’s first competitive oil exploration licensing round last year, with two other Nigerian firms and Australia’s Armour Energy also getting through to final negotiations for the award of the PSAs.
The ministry of energy and mineral development said the deal with Oranto covers the Ngassa Shallow Play and Ngassa Deep Play exploration blocks located near the southern part of Lake Albert.
Uganda discovered oil in 2006 in the Albertine rift basin along its border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Gross crude reserves are estimated by government geologists at 6.5 billion barrels of which between 1.4 to 1.7 billion barrels are considered recoverable. Production is expected to start in 2020.
The first batch of licences that Uganda awarded in the early 2000s was given on a first-come, first-served basis.
But after the discovery of commercially recoverable reserves the country enacted new laws to manage the sector and under those laws exploration licences must be granted on a competitive basis
Oranto Petroleum Ltd a Nigerian company provides oil and gas exploration and production services. The company operates OPL 320, OPL 293 in Nigeria, CI-205, CI-206, LB-12, and Sao Tome oil bloc. It operates as a subsidiary of Atlas Petroleum International Ltd
It recently announced that it would start an ‘aggressive exploration work program’ on Block B3 in South Sudan and invest $500 million, both of which could be a challenge in a country still reeling from a deadly civil war and now facing famine. Block B3 covers 25,150 sq km and Oranto will hold a 90% interest, alongside state Nilepet on 10%.
Olusola Bello with agency report
