Ugandan energy minister Ruth Nankabirwa says the country’s greenfield oil refinery will be completed by 2025 – bringing to fruition a 211-kilometre long multi-products pipeline that will evacuate refined producers from the refinery to a storage terminal.
The refinery is set to reach operational capacity by 2027.
Nankabirwa’s confirmation follows the 2018 announcement that the Ugandan government would form a partnership with a consortium of international funders to explore carbon-neutral energy sources in the East African country.
Agreenfield oil refinery is described as an investment that is started completely from scratch, without any establishing infrastructure, according to whatispiping.com.
“Greenfield projects starts from scratch. The site is not developed and required infrastructure for the project is normally not present. So, a greenfield project starts afresh from scratch. For oil and gas, completely new projects on undeveloped places, like a new refinery construction, setting up of a chemical or petrochemical plant, etc. falls under greenfield project,” according to the directory.
Currently seeking anchor investor
The refinery is expected to produce up to 60 000 barrels of oil per day, and will be built in the Hoima district of Uganda.
Nankabirwa says the Albertine Graben Refinery Consortium (AGRC) has made significant progress in pre-final investment decision, noting that the consortium will expedite ongoing activities so that the refinery’s final investment decision is undertaken, during the launch of the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan in Kampala.
“We plan to announce the final investment decision for the refinery probably next year. We are looking for an anchor investor, and therefore, the oil will come before the refinery is commissioned in 2027,” she says.
The benefactors include Baker Hughes General Electric, through its subsidiary, Nouvo Pignone International, a US-based Africa-focused infrastructure investor, Yaatra Africa, LionWorks Group, an Africa-focused infrastructure investor that will provide additional financing, expertise, and investment, and Italian EPC contractor Saipem p.A., which will design and construct the refinery.
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