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According to Uganda’s petroleum agency, Uganda began its first oil drilling program marking a significant development as the nation rushes to meet its goal of producing its first oil in 2025.

The Kingfisher field is a component of a $10 billion plan to develop the oil reserves under Lake Albert in western Uganda and to construct a sizable pipeline to transport the crude to international markets via a port .

The Kingfisher oilfield drilling campaign has officially been authorized by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, the Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU) announced on Twitter, calling the development a milestone.

In one of the world’s most biodiverse regions, the East African country discovered commercial petroleum reserves nearly two decades ago; however, a lack of infrastructure, such as a pipeline, has repeatedly delayed production.According to PAU, the Kingfisher field, which is run by the government-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), will have a maximum daily output of 40,000 barrels of oil. Energy Minister Ruth Nankabirwa told the AFP news agency, “We are excited as a nation and as Africa.

President Yoweri Museveni launched the program at a location in the Kingfisher project area, one of the nation’s two commercial oil development areas, according to PAU, which oversees the petroleum industry.

France’s TotalEnergies runs the second project area in Uganda, Tilenga, which is north of Lake Albert and astride the River Nile. All of Uganda’s current oilfields are jointly owned by CNOOC, TotalEnergies, and the government-run Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC).

Uganda expects to produce about 230,000 barrels of crude oil per day at its highest level. The estimated 6.5 billion barrels of crude reserves for the nation are divided into 1.4 billion recoverable barrels.