NEW VISION, 19TH SATURDAY OCTOBER 2002
Uganda Now Oil Drilling
The much-awaited drilling of oil in the rift valley in western Uganda has started, Bryan Westwood, the director and general manager Heritage oil and Gas, the company that has been undertaking exploration work, said yesterday, reports John Thawite and Emmy Olaki.
He said they have hired a company called Eagle drill, to undertake this exercise on behalf of 48 companies to explore the oil well.
Westwood said the company has already covered about 1,500 metres down the well and that they have got another 1,500 metres to go.
The exploration work is estimated to cost about 3 to 4m dollars.
“In a few months time, we might be able to know exactly what is down there, but at the moment, we don’t know whether there is anything down there,” he said.
Drilling oil, the first in Uganda, was initially scheduled to start in August, but was delayed because of the anticipated El Nino rains.
“We have managed to get in there before the rains by raising the ground around the site by about 1.5 metres and we have compacted it making it easy to set up the machines,” Westwood said.
He said the first part of the process is expected to end next month. “But this is just the beginning.
After this, geologists will have to interpret what will be found so we wont be able to know exactly what is there for another three to four months,” he said.
Heritage Oil and Gas is a Canadian company listed on the Canadian stock exchange.
It got its exclusive license for oil exploration on block three on the semliki valley about six years ago. There are five blocks in total.
The company also has interests and concessions in Congo Brazzaville, where they are already drilling oil.
They also have interests in Angola and Saudi Arabia.
Rueben Kashambuzi, the commissioner for petroleum products in the ministry of energy, said drilling was progressing well.
“We haven’t reached our target yet but we are watching things as they come along. We hav
e two monitors on site 24 hours a day because we don’t want anything to go wrong,” he said.
He said the Government was participating fully in the project, not only by monitoring, but also training their staff to handle this because it’s a big project.
He said cooperation from the company was great and that they are ensuring that no environmental damage is caused because the were residents in the area.
If the project succeeds it will go a long way in solving Uganda’s oil needs.
Ends
Published on: Saturday, 19th October, 2002
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