The Kingfisher Development Project

The development of the Kingfisher Development Area project (KFDA) includes the development of a Central Processing Facility (CPF) with the capacity to process forty thousand (40,000) bopd. The processed crude oil will be transported to the Delivery Point at Kabaale, through a 10” inner diameter Feeder pipeline that is approximately forty- eight (48) km long. It includes over eighteen (18) km of buried flowlines, a Lake Water Abstraction station together with supporting infrastructure, which includes camps, a Support base, a Materials yard, a Safety check point, a jetty, and access roads. The project consists of one (1) Onshore oilfield which is located at the shores of Lake Albert in Kikuube district. The oil field in the KFDA has a volume of 568MMbbls in place with recoverable resources estimated at 186MMbbls.

The China National Offshore Oil Company, Uganda (CUL) is the operator of KFDA on behalf of the Joint Venture Partners (JVPs) comprising TotalEnergies Exploration, and Production, Uganda (TEPU) with the majority participating interest of 56.67%, Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) with 15%, and CUL with 28.33%. The development of the Kingfisher field is planned to be undertaken through onshore drilling of thirty-one (31) Development Wells from four (4) well-pads, over a period of five (5) years, using one (1) drilling rig.  The status of the project activities under the Enabling Infrastructure (EI), Engineering, Procurement, Supply, Construction and Commissioning (EPSCC), and drilling is indicated as follows:

  1. Construction of Well pads

Excel Engineering Company Ltd (ECL), a Ugandan company, constructed three (3) out of the four (4) planned well pads, i.e. Well Pads 1, 2, and 3. The status of the construction of different well pads is as follows.

  • Well Pad 2: This is the first well pad being drilled in KFDA. It will host ten (10) wells. ECL handed over the pad to the China  Oilfield Services Limited (COSL)  the drilling contractor, at  the end of 2022. Drilling of one (1)  of the ten (10) wells  was    The drilling of the second well on the same well pad was still going on  by the end of the FY. This well will be one of the first oil production wells for the KFDA in 2025.

Figure 15:H.E. The President of the Republic of Uganda during the commissioning of spudding of the first KFDA  Development well in January 2023.

  • Well Pad 1: This is planned to be the second well pad to be drilled in KFDA and will have seven (7) wells. Construction of the material storage area, cellar pit, and the cuttings treatment area was completed.
  • Well Pad 3: After drilling the three (3) wells in KFR02, there will be a rig move to KFR03 (Well Pad 3) to drill four (4) wells.

The Safety Check Station

A  Safety check station will be constructed as a precautionary measure against fatal accidents from vehicle malfunction along the escarpment road because of the terrain in KFDA. Mobilisation to deliver the required equipment is ongoing.

KFDA Central Processing Facility Area

The progress of the construction of the CPF included grading, mixing and compaction of murram at various sections, construction of a  Flood trench around the CPF area, in addition to construction of CPF tank foundations.

Kingfisher Feeder Line

The crude oil processed at the CPF will be transported through a feeder line from Bugoma to the delivery point in Kabaale, Hoima. Daqing Oilfield Construction Group (DOCG) is constructing the forty-five (45) km long KF feeder line on behalf of CUL. The construction of the Temporary camp that will host the  personnel who will  construct the  Feeder line was completed in May 2023. Stringing of the Feeder line is currently going on along the route.

Detailed Engineering design of the Kingfisher Facilities

The Authority attached two (2) staff to monitor the detailed  Engineering design of the KF facilities in Tianjin, China. The status of accomplishment was 96.65% as of 30th June 2023.

Land Acquisition for the Kingfisher Project

The KFDA project requires approximately one thousand, twenty (1,020) acres of land with a total of seven hundred twenty-seven (727) PAPs. The land acquisition process is undertaken under three (3) Resettlement Action Plans (RAPs).  The Authority monitored the social aspects of the work going on by reviewing the daily, weekly, and monthly reports submitted by CUL and the feedline activities in the KFDA. CUL acquired all the land required for the project activities. However, the Authority is monitoring the Livelihood Resettlement Programmes and other social aspects involved in the land acquisition process.

Table 1: Land Acquisition Statistics for the KFDA project as at 30th June 2023.

PROJECT

RAP

ACREAGE (HECTARES)

PROJECT AFFECTED PERSONS

PRIMARY RESIDENTS[1]

KFDA

1

72

31

5

2

183

680

51

3

34

16

8

 

TOTAL

289

727

64

 A Primary Resident is a PAP whose main/only dwelling is affected by the project. Other categories of PAPs include landowners and land users. Some Primary Residents are also landowners.