Industry Petroleum industry Founded 2015 | Products petroleum, oil, gas Type of business State-owned enterprise | |
Key people Emmanuel Katongole, Josephine Wapakabulo | ||
The Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC), also known as the National Oil Company of Uganda, is a limited liability petroleum company in Uganda and owned by the Ugandan government. The 2013 Petroleum (Exploration, Development and Production) Act of Uganda provides for the establishment of the national oil company. UNOC's board of directors was inaugurated on 23 October 2015 by the president of Uganda.
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The board is chaired by Emmanuel Katongole, an economist and businessman. He is a co-founder of Quality Chemical Industries Limited, a pharmaceutical company in eastern Africa and the major supplier of anti-retroviral medications in Uganda.
The board members include Francis Nagimesi, a former chief executive officer of the defunct Coffee Marketing Board of Uganda; Francis Twinamatsiko, a principal economist in the Ugandan Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development; Grace Tubwita Bagaaya, a physical planner; Irene Pauline Batebe, a chemical/refinery engineer in the Petroleum Directorate of Uganda; Godfrey Andama, a senior geoscientist; and Stella-Marie Biwaga, a lawyer working with FIDA, Uganda.
In June 2016, Josephine Wapakhabulo, an electric and electronics engineer, was appointed managing director and chief executive officer of UNOC, being the first person to serve in that position.
Overview
The government of Uganda (GOU)'s goal as set out in the country's energy policy (2002) and National Oil and Gas policy (2008) is to ensure the sustainable utilization of discovered petroleum resources to contribute to early achievement of poverty eradication and create lasting value to society. One of the key objectives to ensure an adequate, reliable, and affordable supply of quality petroleum products in the country. The petroleum deposits discovered so far are estimated at 6.5 billion barrels, of which 1.4 billion barrels are considered recoverable.
The state can participate with between 15 and 20 percent in production, according to existing production-sharing agreements between the state and the three oil exploration companies: Tullow Oil of the United Kingdom, Total Oil of France, and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation. It is the National Oil Company that will participate in production on behalf of the state. The Uganda Oil Refinery that is in the development phase calls for 40 percent participation by the state. The proposed national oil company will invest in the refinery on behalf of the state. It is also expected that the new oil company will maintain a petroleum products retail network.
Plans are underway to develop a 60,000 barrel per day refinery that will serve Uganda and its immediate neighbours. The refinery is being developed on a private-public partnership basis (60 percent to 40 percent). GOU is in the process of finalising the selection process of a strategic investor who will take up the private shareholding. The refinery is expected to boost security of supply of petroleum products and provide an outlet for the discovered resources.
Subsidiaries
UNOC has one wholly owned subsidiary, the Uganda Refinery Holding Company.