Frank Nyakairu
16 December 2007
Kaiso, Lake Albert — It is often said that oil is the world's most fought over natural resource but Uganda and DR Congo want to disprove this adage, at least as demonstrated this week. After eight deaths from three firefights on Lake Albert over where the border lies and suspicion that Uganda might be drilling Congolese oil, the two governments are moving to do clean business.
As a follow-up of the Ngurdoto Agreement signed in Arusha, Tanzania September 9 - 10, President Joseph Kabila has sent a 70-man delegation to kick-start border and oil sharing talks with Uganda. The talks kicked off on Thursday in Kampala and were preceded by a trip to the Lake Albert shores in seven planes that were chartered by the government to carry Congolese officials and some of their Ugandan counterparts for an on-the-spot assessment of things.
The lake which lies on the floor of the western arm of the Great African Rift Valley straddles part of the Uganda-Congo border in an area where two companies; Heritage Oil of Canada and Tullow Oil of the UK, are prospecting for oil. As they flew over the lake shores, towering oil rigs could be seen sticking out of the ground from the Ugandan side of the border, a development which is yet to be seen on the Congolese side of the lake.
Of particular concern are two oil explorations sites: Kingfisher licensed to both Heritage Oil and Gas and Tullow Oil, and Ngassa which is licensed only to Tullow both located within a kilometre from the lake. In a road tour, the officials were taken through all the onshore oil exploration areas.
"We want to show you that all we are doing is not on water it is on Ugandan land," said Mr Fred Kabanda, an expert from Uganda's Petroleum Development and Explorations Department, through a French interpreter.
The Congolese officials, who mostly did the listening, maintained curious faces especially when it came to the visit to the lakeside operations. This time the experts had questions delving into technical geographic complexities of the oil exploration business. Particularly of concern to the curious Congolese was data Uganda has obtained from its seismic investigations from onshore exploration operations.
"From your 3D seismic findings what is the distance the well extends into the lake," asked Antoine Bongela Lokonga, DRC's senior geologist.
3D (three dimensional) seismic data provides detailed information about fault distribution and subsurface structures underground. "3D is only 200 square metres," replied Honey Malinga, Uganda's assistant commissioner in charge of geophysics. Unconvinced Bongela short back; "Are you sure it does not extend into the lake and crosses over to Congo," prompting loud laughter.
Tullow and government official also laboured to explain why one of the onshore exploration projects has pipes sunk km into the lake.
"When we drilled we came across rocks which made it difficult for the pipes to continue sinking so we diverted the pipes 1km into the lake and 5km deep," said Tullow's Tim O'Hanlon.
DR Congo's Bongela might have sounded jocular but his question represents the suspicion rife in Kinshasa, and which can largely explain why that country has delayed to allow their own explorations operations to commence.
Standing on the shores of the Albert, the Blue Mountains in the Congolese Ituri region can be seen. Though the border line on the lake can be easily told using the 5-metre precise satellite global positioning system, the border row has been aggravated by the possibility that there could be oil wells lying astride the common border, and that Uganda's early drilling could tap into Congolese oil wells.
But Tullow's vice president for Africa, Mr O'Hanlon insisted that: "Mother nature has been generous on the Ugandan side and we think there are rich wells on the lake and on the Congolese side as well," said O'Hanlon.
All the same, the DR Congo delegation responded that: "The Ugandans should wait and let us start explorations and production at once." This was the position offered by Mr Rwabona Mugabe, the Commissioner Ituri District. This mineral rich Congolese region was until 2003 a war theatre with Uganda and DR Congo on one hand and dozens of militia groups battling for control.
"Ituri is now peaceful and soon we will be ready to start exploration, it is a matter of time," said Mr Rwabona. However, North Kivu, a few hundred kilometres south of Ituri, the Congolese government is still battling rebels loyal to dissident General Laurent Nkunda.
Tullow Oil, which has an exploration agreement with Kinshasa, would be the most likely implementer of prospecting when this begins across the border but as Mr O'Hanlon said: "We are waiting for Kinshasa to complete the paperwork otherwise we are ready to start work".
If this meeting succeeds, it will be seen as a positive drift away from politics of war and a refreshing firming of political will as was captured in the spirit of the Ngurdoto talks between Presidents Museveni and Kabila.
And one man who fervently hopes that this visit is a precursor to better times is Tullow's Vice President. He told Sunday Monitor that: "This oil story should not be looked at like that in Iraq, it is upon President Museveni and President Kabila to make this a success and it can be."
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