President Yoweri Museveni brand names Uganda’s Crude Oil ” Pearl Sweet Petroleum” as Uganda nears final commercial development stage of its oil exploitation.
The brand naming of Uganda’s crude oil is intended to give the country’s petroleum resource a distinct identity on the global oil market, clearly reflecting its Ugandan origin while communicating its quality and ensuring traceability and market recognition.
Uganda’s crude oil name “Pearl Sweet Petroleum”, with the slogan “Born of the Pearl”, draws from the country’s identity as the Pearl of Africa embodying key national attributes associated with quality, purity, strength, resilience and experience, while giving the country’s petroleum resource a distinctive identity on the global oil market.
“We are here to celebrate and give this baby (oil) a name. These people have told me to name this baby Pearl Sweet Petroleum. We call it sweet because it does not have sulphur. When it has sulphur, it is more expensive to remove the sulphur. This one either has little or no sulphur,” President Museveni said during a function at the Kingfisher Oilfield Development Area in Kikuube district on Wednesday.
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni reasserts Uganda’s first call to establish own Oil Refinery
He stated that Uganda’s oil Refinery ambition will mark the attainment of the desired ultimate profitability for the country’s oil resources through economies of scale attributed to domestic production, save the country from transit charges, undo the 2 billion USD import Petroleum bill among other costs.
“When we pump our crude to Tanga, we pay $12.77 per barrel just for transport. When we refine our oil here, we don’t pay that money. We shall no longer spend $2 billion importing petroleum,” he said.
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni further notes that the ongoing Petroleum exploitation program will generate over 80MW of electricity costed at USD 30 million annually and also offer Liquidified Petroleum Gas for cooking costed at approximately USD 7 million annually
“Here, we said no to flaring gas. We shall be using the gas to generate electricity, up to 80 megawatts at Kingfisher alone,” he said.
The President has commended the Governments of China and France for interesting their home companies to invest in Uganda and rallied for more strategic investments
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni commended the speed of implementation for oil exploitation works in Oil grabline area and calls for more expediting to attain the first oil target.
“I want to thank CNOOC here because they have moved very fast. I want the others to also work very fast,” he said.
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni says the refinery remains Uganda’s major focus even though with the ongoing East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline Project – EACOP
“You can export some of the crude, but the refinery must get priority. That is what is in our agreement.”
Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja quantifies the direct impact of Kingfisher oilfield Development area works to Bunyoro sub region and beyond, listing the Kabale International Airport, Kabale Industrial Park, Extended team roads reach on top of the AFCON aided elevations including Hoima City Stadium, elevated Hoima Regional Referral hospital and vast direct socioeconomic support funding initiatives to the people.
“On behalf of the people of Bunyoro and all Ugandans, allow me to appreciate you for the significant development that oil has created in this area, we appreciate the Kabalega International Airport, the Kabelega Industrial Park, the tarmac roads” she said.
The minister of Energy and Mineral Development Dr Monica Musenero notes that Uganda is crossing an important threshold in socioeconomic transformation attributed to the landmark achievements in the oil exploitation project.
By Nashumbusha Joshua.
