The ministry of Energy and Mineral Development (MEMD) has revealed plans to open up another oil basin in the country, almost ten years after it hit its first well in the Albertine basin.

Frank Mugisha, the acting commissioner in charge of exploration in the Petroleum Directorate, said the country was going to start exploring for oil in Lake Kyoga (picture) in central basin and Moroto-Kadama basin in Karamoja sub-region,adding that the opening up of these basins could come as early as this financial year. « The ministry plans to undertake speculative surveys in the two basins. These surveys will be followed by seismic surveys. We hope in the future, these areas will also be opened for licensing, » he said.

Uganda is presently concentrating on licensing out six oil blocks in the Albertine basin. Mugisha stated that the  government anticipates to call for bids on October 1, 2015. This will be the first round of open bidding in the country.

According to Mugisha subsequent to the issuance of bid documents, prospective companies would be given three months within which to submit the bids. After that, government will take one month to evaluate the bids and another one month for negotiations and issuance of exploration licenses.

Technically, this means exploration licenses are expected to be issued in Q1 of next year. Beforehand, 16 companies have been pre-qualified to submit bids. The country has opened up six blocks for the new licensing round and expects to bring on board six other companies in the exploration.

However, the government has also promised to issue production licenses to Tullow and Total E&P Uganda Limited. This was stated in an interview on the sidelines of the Uganda International Oil and Gas Conference 2015 at Serena hotel, in Kampala. Robert Kasande, the head of Midstream Department in the Petroleum Directorate, told Allafrica that technocrats in the ministry had already drafted the production licenses.

Kasande further explained that the ministry's target is to issue production licenses to the two oil companies before the end of this year. Presently, only Cnooc Uganda Limited has a production license, which it received in 2013, for the Kingfisher oil field in Hoima district.

Tullow and Total nevertheless, applied to government to be issued with production licenses. As a requirement for the application of production licenses, the companies also submitted Field Development Plans (FDPs) and petroleum reservoir reports to government for approval.