According to Michael Atingi-Ego, deputy governor of the Bank of Uganda, oil investments have helped Uganda stabilize its US Dollar exchange rate.
Atingi-Ego made the disclosure while taking Ernest Rubondo, the Director of the Petroleum Authority of Uganda, and Anne Jjuuko, CEO of Stanbic Bank, on a guided tour of the oil fields in the Albertine region.
According to him, the quantity of foreign money that is being added to the local content as a result of oil activities has contributed to the stabilization of the dollar exchange rate.
“According to our estimation, barely 30% of all direct foreign investment (FDI) in some banks had local content in the past. According to Atingi-Ego, “That is the money that is sold in the foreign markets and it has helped to stabilize the currency.
He continued by saying that if oil production begins, it will open value chains, boost foreign exchange profits, and reduce foreign expenditure.
Rubondo reassured the nation that despite opposition from Western actors demanding for its suspension, Uganda’s oil projects remain progressing.
“They need to say what their objective is but clearly it’s not climate change anymore,” Rubondo said. “We cannot sit here and accept to be bulldozed into a situation that is not applied to other countries.”
Progress
The Kingfisher Oil Development Field, located on the Lake Albert shoreline near Buhuka Landing, Kikuube District, is currently 53% complete.
The China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) is developing it.
The corporate affairs officer of CNOOC Uganda, Zakaliya Lubega, stated that three oil wells at well pad 2 have been drilled, sealed, and are currently being disassembled and moved to well pad 3.
According to Lubega, three out of ten oil wells at well pad 2 have had their oil reservoirs tapped through drilling.
Other development elements, such as the central processing plant and the feeder pipeline, according to him, are starting to take shape.
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni started drilling at the Kingfisher Oil Development Field on January 24, 2023.
Uganda anticipates beginning oil extraction around 2025.
