Bid invitations for Buloba oil facility expected soon

November 20, 2017 in Hydrocarbons, Infrastructure, Investment by Editor

November 20— The Uganda National Oil Com­pany (UNOC) is currently drafting a policy that will guide the government on how to select a partner for the petroleum reserve facility at Buloba.

According to Deep Earth, the regional resource research firm, UNOC has already finalized a joint venture deal with Kenyan-based One Petroleum Limited Consortium to manage the Jinja stor­age tanks which are currently full. Jinja is where the country’s strategic reserves are kept.

Energy ministry officials say they have received proposals from different companies to take up a lead role in the oil storage facilities, but they are yet to make up their minds on who they want to partner hence the UNOC input.

Companies interested in the Buloba petroleum storage termi­nal will have to look at some of the studies that government has undertaken for the facility. The Ministry says it completed a master plan for the Buloba storage terminal in July this year, but the highlight is that the terminal should be able to hold 240 million litres by 2040.

Deep Earth say the government is already financing UNOC with at least UGX55million ($15,200) per month or the equivalent of UGX5.5/litre of throughput, to turn the Jinja storage facility into a profitable venture.