Drilling firms discover commercial oil in Ugandan lake

Jun 26, 2006, 17:57 GMT

Kampala - Drilling tests on the bed of Lake Albert in western Uganda have yielded substantial quantities of oil suitable for commercial production in the future, a Ugandan official confirmed Monday.

The discoveries reached after intensive drilling and tests on samples jointly done by the Australian firm, Hardman, an Irish company Tullow oil and the Ugandan government on the Waraga-1 well show a flow rate of 1500 barrels a day but further details on the oil flow are still being tested, the permanent secretary in the energy ministry, Fred Kaliisa-Kabagambe said by telephone.

Other drilling tests had been done for years on the bed of the lake which is shared with the Democratic Republic of Congo and situated on the western arm of the Great East African Lift Valley.

'The mission was a joint venture between Hardman of Australia, another firm of Ireland and the government of Uganda. The exploration was done on parts of lake Albert. There has been a commercial discovery of the oil and tests of the flow show a 1500 barrels per day but other details are being tested out and will be released later,' Kaliisa-Kabagambe said.