05-01-10 Uganda's oil discoveries in three blocks have the potential to produce 100,000 bpd for the next 25 years, the Energy Ministry said. The East African country has so far discovered deposits of about 2 bn barrels of crude, of which 600 mm barrels can be recovered, Robert Tugume, the ministry's principal geophysicist, said.
The finds in two of the three blocks are jointly owned by Tullow Oil, the UK explorer with the most licenses in Africa, and London-based Heritage Oil, Tugume said. The third block is also owned by Tullow, he added.

At least 32 of the 34 wells drilled so far have located commercially viable oil deposits, Tugume said.
"More exploration is going on which could mean more discoveries," he added. Uganda issued oil concessions to five British companies and the remaining five blocks will be explored after the enactment of a new oil and gas policy by mid-year, said Tugume.

Tullow plans to start production next year with a targeted Ugandan output of between 5,000 and 10,000 bpd by 2012, rising to 150,000 bpd within five years.
Neptune Petroleum Uganda, a unit of London-based Tower Resources, and UK-based Dominion Petroleum are also exploring for oil in Uganda.