The Kingfisher oilfield rig reached Mombasa port a few weeks ago
CNOOC Uganda has revealed that shipments of the oil drilling rig have started arriving at the Kingfisher oilfield in Kikuube district.
“The Rig is here!!! Shipments of the drilling rig have started arriving at the Kingfisher oilfield in Kikuube District. 18 containers will be delivered daily for the coming 3 weeks. The journey to first oil is in full force,” CNOOC Uganda tweeted Monday afternoon.
CNOOC Uganda accompanied the tweet with a video of containers being delivered at the Kingfisher oilfield. The oil company says 18 containers will be delivered daily for the next three weeks.
The Rig is here!!! Shipments of the drilling rig have started arriving at the Kingfisher oilfield in Kikuube District. 18 containers will be delivered daily for the coming 3 weeks. The journey to first oil is in full force. @PAU_Uganda @MEMD_Uganda @ChineseEmb_Uga pic.twitter.com/64QH0tZR3L
— CNOOC Uganda Limited (@CNOOCUgandaLtd) September 26, 2022
An oil rig is a large machine that’s used for drilling deep holes in the earth so that oil can be extracted. An oil rig is almost always an enormous, complex structure that can drill miles into the ground to access oil.
The Kingfisher Oil Development Area which is managed by CNOOC Uganda is a beehive of activity as Excel Construction Limited, a Ugandan company, which scooped the US$23.2m (UShs81.9bn) PC1 deal for the Kingfisher in February this year, intensifies works to construct the well pads, access roads, and water intake points intensifies.
CNOOC is also setting up the Central Processing Facility (CPF) where oil will be collected through flow lines. At the CPF, cleaning of oil will take place; oil will be separated from the gas, water, sand and other solids.
The oil will then be transported through a 46.7km feeder pipeline to the refinery in Kabaale, Hoima.
From Kabaale, the crude will be processed to the international market level ready for transportation through the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) to Tanga in Tanzania.
Kingfisher, which is located on the shores of Lake Albert in Kikuube district will produce 40,000 barrels of oil per day at peak, while the Tilenga project which is managed by TotalEnergies EP Uganda will produce 190,000 barrels per day.
It is worth noting that the oil projects are managed by joint venture partners including TotalEnergies EP Uganda with 56.67% shareholding, CNOOC Uganda with 28.33% and Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) with 15%.
Uganda has so far discovered 6.5 billion barrels of oil in the Albertine Graben and about 1.7 billion of these are recoverable.
Uganda is expected to have her first oil before the end of 2025.
