Uganda’s state oil company has discovered substantial new crude deposits

Nine possible oil wells with “significant new crude oil deposits” have been found in the Kasuruban block, according to a statement released on Tuesday by the state-owned Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC).

The discovery could boost crude resources in the Albertine Rift Basin in Uganda, where UNOC already operates two development fields that are anticipated to begin commercial production in the second half of next year, along with China’s CNOOC (600938.SS), France’s TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA), and others.

Following the conclusion of a production sharing agreement (PSA) with the government, UNOC purchased the 1,285 square kilometer Kasuruban exploration block in 2023.

Preliminary calculations indicated that the nine possible wells identified may produce 600 million barrels of recoverable crude, according to a statement posted by UNOC on the social networking platform X. It gave no more information, including the date of the discovery.

There are now 1.65 billion barrels of proven recoverable oil in Uganda.