Last week, the ministry of Energy and Mineral Development released a list of 19 multinational companies that expressed interest in taking up licenses to explore for oil in the Albertine graben. However, the list reveals one glaring reality: Uganda has failed to attract a major company into its oil industry. By most measures, all the companies that have expressed interest are what one would call junior firms, which are more willing to take risks with exploring for oil in wildcat wells. Many of the firms are from Nigeria, South Africa, United Arab Emirates (EAE), and USA. Petroleum directorate officials had said global oil companies such as Exxon Mobil and Shell had shown interest in coming to Uganda, after it had been de-risked with success stories from companies such as Heritage Oil and Tullow Oil. Releasing the list of companies on Wednesday, the permanent secretary in the ministry of Energy, […]