KAMPALA, Feb 21 – An oil exploration firm in Uganda said on Friday the wells it is planning to drill this year could put the country among the world\’s top 50 producers.
British Tullow Oil manager in Uganda Brian Glover suggested Kampala should concentrate on further exploration rather than begin large-scale production.
Since 2006 when Uganda first discovered oil, some 600 million barrels of reserves have been found around Lake Albert that straddles the Uganda-DR Congo border.
"The wells we are going to drill this year could discover another billion barrels. So Uganda could be a country with between a billion and a billion and a half of total reserves," Glover told AFP.
"That would put Uganda into the top 50 oil producers in the world," he added.
Commercial petroleum extraction is expected to start this year.
Canadian oil prospecting firm Heritage Oil said in September it had found the country\’s largest oil deposit in the Albert Basin.
Energy-hungry Uganda has discovered huge deposits of oil in its western region near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Oil experts estimate that there may be up to two billion barrels of oil reserves, most of it under Lake Albert.
