Uganda Set to Emerge as Africa's Newest Oil Producer
The East African country of Uganda is on track to become the world's newest oil-producing nation. The country plans to export its Pearl Sweet grade crude oil by December and reach a target of 230,000 barrels per day within three years.
Uganda's energy minister and senior officials will pitch Pearl Sweet to potential export markets at the Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference in Singapore this week.
The medium-to-heavy, low-sulfur crude oil will be benchmarked against Brent crude. The initial source of Pearl Sweet crude is expected to come from the Kingfisher oil field, operated by Cnooc Ltd, with production starting at 25,000 barrels per day and increasing to 40,000 within six months.
The country's larger Tilenga development, operated by TotalEnergies SE, is set to begin production in the first quarter of 2027. Uganda has partnered with global oil trader Vitol Group to market the crude internationally.