Ugandan president to approve all oil, gas deals
Uganda’s President
Yoweri Museveni wants the final say on all oil and gas deals as the
country prepares to launch oil production, a letter seen by Reuters
shows.
In the letter,
dated July 19, but given to Reuters on Thursday, Mr Museveni ordered
his energy minister, Hilary Onek, not to sign any oil or gas deals
without his prior written consent.
Mr Museveni said he
was changing the normal practice of a minister signing deals on behalf
of the government after advice from the attorney general, in order to
safeguard against mistakes.
He said the
discovery of oil in Uganda had created a lot of “excitement and
stampede” among some people who were scrambling for easy money from the
commodity.
Commercial
hydrocarbon deposits were discovered in Uganda’s Lake Albert Rift basin
along the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2006 and
reserves are estimated at 2 billion barrels.
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