The Presidents of Uganda and Algeria oversaw the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Sonatrach (Algeria’s national oil company) and the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) on March 12th, 2023. The MOU aims to jointly assess cooperation opportunities across the entire oil and gas value chain (exploration, production, marketing, processing and other downstream activities).
Uganda is highly interested in construction of an inland refinery to reduce on transport costs from the Coastal areas of Mombasa and Dar-re-salaam. Uganda plans to construct a refinery that will process 60,000 barrels of oil per day at Kabaale, Buseruka Sub-county in Homa District for the domestic and regional market.
In terms of market size, Algeria has the 10th largest proven natural gas reserves globally, is the world’s 4th largest gas exporter, and has the world’s 3rd largest untapped shale gas resources. It also ranks 16th in proven oil reserves and exports roughly 60 percent of its total oil production.
In February 2023, Algeria announced its plan to invest USD 1 billion to finance development projects in Africa. Details notwithstanding, Uganda could greatly benefit from this opportunity.
Further insights about the MOU can be accessed through the link below:
https://www.unoc.co.ug/unoc-signs-mou-with-algerian-oil-company/