Museveni names Uganda’s crude oil ‘Pearl Sweet’ as first oil nears

President Yoweri Museveni has christened Uganda’s crude oil “Pearl Sweet”, with the slogan “Born of the Pearl”, as the country enters the final stretch towards commercial oil production.

Museveni unveiled the name today Wednesday at the Kingfisher Development Area in Kikuube district. The name draws on Uganda’s long-standing identity as the “Pearl of Africa” while highlighting a defining characteristic of the country’s crude: its relatively low sulphur content.

In petroleum terminology, sweet crude refers to oil with relatively little sulphur. Such crude is generally easier and less costly to refine than high-sulphur, or “sour”, crude.

“I asked my people, ‘Is there sugar in the petroleum? Why do you call it sweet?’” Museveni said, drawing laughter from the audience before explaining the reference.

“The Pearl is Uganda,” he added.

The branding comes as Uganda approaches the most consequential stage of its two-decade oil journey, the transition from discovery and development to production. First commercial oil output is expected by the end of September 2026.

From discovery to production

Uganda’s petroleum prospects began taking concrete shape after commercial oil discoveries were announced in the Albertine Graben in 2006.

Government estimates put the country’s oil initially in place at about 6.5 billion barrels, of which approximately 1.4 billion barrels are considered recoverable. The country also has nearly 500 billion cubic feet of natural gas.

At Kingfisher, operated by China’s CNOOC Uganda Limited, the scale of the development is increasingly visible. The project comprises four well pads and 31 development wells and is designed to produce about 40,000 barrels of oil per day at peak production, according to Eng Irene Bateebe, permanent secretary in the ministry of Energy and Mineral Development.

CNOOC president Dr Liu Xiangdong said the project’s Central Processing Facility (CPF) achieved mechanical completion on August 24, while 22 wells had been drilled.

“Today, we can see how far the project has come,” Liu said, recalling CNOOC’s entry into the project in 2012 and Museveni’s subsequent involvement in its development.

Kingfisher, however, accounts for only part of Uganda’s planned upstream production. The larger Tilenga project, operated by TotalEnergies EP Uganda, is designed to produce about 190,000 barrels per day at peak output.

Together, the two projects are expected to produce approximately 230,000 barrels per day.

Pipeline to the coast

For Uganda, producing crude is only half the challenge. As a landlocked country, Uganda must move its oil hundreds of kilometres before it can reach international markets.

The principal export route is the 1,443-kilometre East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), which runs from Kabaale in Hoima to the Chongoleani Peninsula near Tanzania’s Tanga port.

The insulated pipeline is designed to transport up to 246,000 barrels per day. EACOP had reached 92.7 per cent overall completion by September 1, according to the pipeline company, placing the export infrastructure alongside the upstream projects in the final phase before first oil.

Museveni said the pipeline would be central to the economics of Uganda’s petroleum strategy. He put the cost of transporting crude through EACOP at about $12.77 per barrel, while arguing that refining oil domestically could eliminate the export transportation cost for crude processed within Uganda.

Refinery ambition

The President also presented oil development as an energy-security strategy rather than simply an export venture. Government plans include a 60,000-barrel-per-day refinery at Kabaale, together with a multi-products pipeline and petroleum storage infrastructure.

The refinery is currently at the pre-final-investment-decision stage following the effectiveness of an implementation agreement with Alpha MBM International LLC-FZ.

The strategy reflects Uganda’s National Oil and Gas Policy, which envisages petroleum being used for domestic energy requirements, refining and exports. Uganda’s petroleum laws similarly require the sector to be developed in a manner that secures optimum benefits for present and future generations.

Beyond crude

Museveni also highlighted plans to extract value from associated gas produced alongside the crude. Rather than flare the gas at Kingfisher, government plans to use it to generate electricity, with officials putting the proposed capacity at about 80 megawatts.

Additional gas will be processed into liquefied petroleum gas for cooking.

“No flaring of gas,” Museveni declared, presenting the policy as an effort to ensure Uganda derives value from more than its crude oil alone.

But as Uganda prepares to start earning petroleum revenues, the sector is also entering a period in which questions of governance, transparency and public benefit will become increasingly important.

Article 244 of the Constitution vests petroleum in the Government on behalf of the people, while the Petroleum (Exploration, Development and Production) Act, 2013 provides for sustainable development, public safety, environmental protection, national content, transparency and accountability.

The Public Finance Management Act, 2015 establishes mechanisms including the Petroleum Fund and provides the framework for managing petroleum revenues.

Uganda has been a member of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) since 2020. The initiative has, however, said further work is required in areas including contract and beneficial-ownership disclosure and civic participation.