Uganda Government Releases Oil Deals To Parliament - Lawmaker
May 20 2011 - 11:17AM
Dow Jones News
The Ugandan government Friday released copies of oil sharing
deals with private companies operating in the country that it had
kept for years as a closely guarded secret, a lawmaker told Dow
Jones Newswires Friday.
Copies of the deals were presented to the parliamentary library
Friday following months of pressure from civil society
organizations and lawmakers, according to Henry Banyezaki, the head
of Uganda's parliamentary forum on oil and gas.
"It's a very big step forward as far as transparency in the oil
sector is concerned," he said. "Ugandans can now access these
agreements and know what they stand to benefit from the oil
discoveries."
In the past the government has declined to release the deals,
citing confidentiality clauses.
Campaigners have in the past said the government's secret
dealings with oil companies could turn the recently discovered oil
reserves in the Lake Albertine rift into a curse.
Oil companies with deals in Uganda include U.K.-based Tullow Oil
PLC (TLW.LN), Dominion Petroleum Ltd. (DPL.LN) and Neptune Ltd., a
unit of London-listed Tower Resources PLC. (TRP.LN).
The details of the deals include the modalities on the sharing
of oil between government and companies upon commencement of
production, pricing and taxation issues.
Winnie Ngabirwe, the head of Publish What You Pay in Uganda, a
group that has been campaigning for transparency in the oil sector,
said the release was long overdue.
"We are now going to scrutinize the contents of these agreements
and present our response to government very soon," she said.
Uganda has discovered at least 1 billion barrels of oil along
its western border with Congo. In March the government approved a
joint venture deal with Tullow, China's CNOOC Ltd. (CEO) and French
oil major Total SA (TOT) for the development of oil fields in the
three blocks.
-By Nicholas Bariyo, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires;
256-75-2624615 bariyonic@yahoo.co.uk
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