KETTY ADERA & IMMACULATE NAMANDA

Kampala - Uganda is to construct an oil refinery for its petroleum extracts at Kabaale in Buseruka Sub County, Hoima District, State Minister for Mineral Development, Mr Peter Lokeris, has revealed.

He was speaking at a consultative meeting on petroleum exploration held recently in the western district of Hoima. The meeting was attended by local district officials, civil society organisations, community leaders and the public.

He noted that after several consultations and research by Foster Wheeler Energy Limited, a UK based firm, it was resolved that Uganda had the potential of owning a petroleum refinery. "After consultations with development partners, we have concluded that a refinery should be built in our country," he said.

Over $4.6b will be used for the construction, $2.05b for the refinery and $2.57b for a processing plant. In addition a pipeline from Kabaale via Nakasongola about 100 kilometres north of Kampala will cost $144m. The construction is expected to start in 2012 and be completed by 2015.

The refinery is expected to produce 60,000 barrels of oil daily. " Uganda consumes 18,000 barrels of oil per day hence the remaining oil will be absorbed by markets in DR. Congo, Rwanda , Burundi Southern Sudan, Tanzania and Kenya ," the minister added.

Having a refinery in the country will bring many benefits, including bigger monies and creating employment, according to Mr. Fred Kabagambe Kaliisa, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development. "The refinery will not only collect maximum profits from the petroleum extract but also create employment opportunities for the nation," Kaliisa said during the meeting.

Minister Lokeris had earlier on informed the meeting that the exploration firms were at first opposed to having a refinery constructed in Uganda due to its high costs. However, the government convinced them to make some contributions towards the construction of the refinery.

The government will survey and demarcate 20 square kilometres of land for the refinery to create a wider buffer zone.

Initially, five sites were chosen for the refinery and they included; Biso in Buliisa, Kabaale in Buseruka, Nakasongola and two other sites along the L.Victoria basin. The site for the refinery had to be near a water body, not prone to earth quakes, have a flat topography and should be sparsely populated. Kabaale was eventually chosen because it had all the above qualities and it is the nearest to the oil wells.