CNOOC starts first oil drilling
A section of the Kingfisher 4 oil well in Hoima District where CNOOC has started drilling for oil. PHOTO BY FRANCIS MUGERWA
What you need to know:
The drilling of Kingfisher 4, a pre-development well, is expected to help experts to further determine the amount of oil reserves in place.
Hoima
China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has started the first oil drilling phase in Hoima District.
The drilling of Kingfisher 4 well, which started early this month, is the first since the exploration phase ended and will pave way for commercial production. “It is the first well which CNOOC Uganda has drilled in Kingfisher oil field,” said the CNOOC public relations supervisor, Ms Aminah Bukenya, on Tuesday.
She said the drilling of Kingfisher 4, a pre-development well, will help the experts to further determine the amount of the oil reserves in place. “Kingfisher 4 will be the first highly deviated and extended well in the Albert region,” she said.
Ms Bukenya said CNOOC Uganda would comply with the relevant regulations and follow guidance of the approved Environment and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) recommendations to ensure the well is drilled in a safe and efficient manner.
Government granted an oil production licence to CNOOC) in September 2013.
CNOOC has expanded an airstrip and upgraded camps which were left behind by its predecessor Heritage Oil and Gas, a British firm that discovered the oil in the Kingfisher well. The Chinese firm estimates that Kingfisher oil field will produce 40,000 barrels of oil per day during peak production.
Energy minister Irene Muloni said the drilling is in line with the approved field development plans. “That is one of the pre-development activities of the oil fields. We hope preparations will be ready by 2016 as we prepare for commercial oil development around 2017,” Ms Muloni said.
She told the Sunday Monitor that the drilling activities are ongoing as government expedites the process of constructing a refinery and an export pipeline which will be evacuating the crude oil from the wells. “We are soon getting a lead investor for a refinery. Before Isimba and Karuma dams become operational, we hope to use the crude for power generation,” Ms Muloni said.
Kingfisher field
The Kingfisher discovery is jointly licensed to Tullow Uganda Limited, CNOOC Uganda Ltd and Total E&P Uganda under a joint venture partnership. Each of the partners has a 33.3 per cent stake in the venture. Government will have a participating interest of 15 per cent. CNOOC Uganda Ltd was appointed operator of the Kingfisher Field in 2012 when Tullow farmed down 66.6 per cent of its interests in the Albertine Graben.
