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Uganda: Heritage to Explore for Oil in North
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New Vision (Kampala)
6 March 2008
Posted to the web 7 March 2008
Emmy Olaki
Kampala
HERITAGE Oil is to start exploration in northern Uganda, a senior company official has said.
The company is also in the process of submitting its drilling programme for northern Uganda's Block 1 to the Government for approval.
"We have done all the environmental impact assessments and other necessary studies. Once the Government gives us a go-ahead on the 13th, it will be about three months before drilling starts," the official said.
Three wells are expected to be drilled in this location, but they won't be deeper than a metre.
The prospect of drilling in the area is exciting the locals who have high expectations in the outcome.
"The people seem more excited than the people of Bunyoro. But people shouldn't get excited because we are still many years from producing oil."
In exploration area 5 in West Nile, Neptune (Tower Resources), which is licensed on the block, has also completed seismic studies and the data gathered has been taken for interpretation.
"After interpretation, the company will identify a drilling prospect and start a drilling campaign later this year," Ernest Rubondo, the deputy commissioner in the energy ministry's Petroleum Exploration and Production Department, said.
Exploration area 5 is in the Rhino Camp area. The firm has done well with the locals by involving them and their leaders intensively and making them know a lot of what the company is doing.
"This excited the people. Of course they don't know what happens after this. They think the drilling will start immediately, but the data has to be interpreted first and a drilling prospect identified. We will know by end of this month or early next month what the data indicates," Rubondo said.
The company has started planning ahead by trying to establish where the rig and other logistics will be mobilised from. They will, however, have to present their drilling programme to the Government. If it is satisfactory, they will start the second exploratory period.
Meanwhile, Heritage Oil says it expects to start drilling the high-impact Kingfisher-2 exploration well in Bunyoro during the second quarter of 2008.
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The operator of the neighbouring Block 2 licence, Tullow Oil, has announced it is releasing the Nabors 221 drilling rig and preparations have begun to prepare to mobilise the rig to the Kingfisher-2 site.
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