Uganda must solve three-piece oil puzzle in 2025
Energy minister says country is delaying first oil production until pipeline and refinery are ready
Uganda will postpone first oil production from the Lake Albert project due to financing difficulties facing a planned refinery and a crude export pipeline to Tanzania, Minister of Energy and Mineral Development Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu said in an exclusive interview with Petroleum Economist. Uganda, which has been struggling for two decades to pump oil, made the discovery in the western Lake Albert Basin in 2006 and has sought the help of IOCs and investors to finance the production of crude from two projects, in which TotalEnergies and China’s state-controlled CNOOC have majority stakes. To export the crude from the land-locked country, Uganda wants to build a 1,443km pipeline—known as the
Also in this section
4 December 2025
Time is running out for Lukoil and Rosneft to divest international assets that will be mostly rendered useless to them when the US sanctions deadline arrives in mid-December
3 December 2025
Aramco’s pursuit of $30b in US gas partnerships marks a strategic pivot. The US gains capital and certainty; Saudi Arabia gains access, flexibility and a new export future
2 December 2025
The interplay between OPEC+, China and the US will define oil markets throughout 2026
1 December 2025
The North African producer’s first bidding round in almost two decades is an important milestone but the recent extension suggests a degree of trepidation






